Jeju farmers protest tariff-free US mandarins, Coupang’s sale of imported fruits

A vacationer picks tangerines at a restaurant on Jeju Island, Dec. 8, 2025. Yonhap

Citrus growers and politicians on Jeju Island are expressing issues over the elimination of tariffs on mandarin oranges imported from the USA, which took impact this 12 months below the Korea-U.S. Free Commerce Settlement (KORUS FTA).

They’ve urged the central and municipal governments to take steps to guard the island’s citrus trade whereas condemning Coupang for selling imported agricultural merchandise.

“We urge the federal government to behave instantly to compensate for the harm and stabilize provide and demand,” native farmers’ teams mentioned throughout a joint press convention on Tuesday.

The Jeju department of the Korean Successor Superior Farmers Federation additionally known as for a “particular emergency tariff,” as permitted below the Customs Act. The president can impose such a tariff when the amount of agricultural imports rises quickly.

When the KORUS FTA was signed in 2012, Korea agreed to steadily lower its 144 p.c tariff on U.S. mandarins by 9.6 proportion factors annually, phasing it out fully by 2026. The Ministry of Agriculture, Meals and Rural Affairs famous that this tariff elimination had been anticipated for the previous 15 years.

Nevertheless, Jeju’s farmers level to the unexpectedly sharp improve in U.S. mandarin imports.

In keeping with the Korea Customs Service, imports of U.S. mandarins grew from 0.1 tons in 2017 to 7,619 tons in 2025. Their worth climbed from $1.7 million in 2021 to $20 million in 2025.

The U.S. Division of Agriculture additionally confirmed robust curiosity within the Korean market by releasing a report on Korean tangerine manufacturing final month. The report projected that Korea’s imports of U.S. mandarins produced in 2025 would attain 16,000 tons — greater than double the earlier 12 months’s quantity.

As extra orange farms in California change to mandarin manufacturing to satisfy shopper demand, issues are rising that their exports to Korea within the spring season might intensify competitors with Jeju’s citrus growers.

Jeju Gov. Oh Younger-hun speaks throughout the celebration of the tenth anniversary of Citrus Day at Bongeun Temple in Seoul, Dec. 6, 2025. Yonhap

In response, lawmakers throughout get together traces have expressed assist for the farmers and known as for presidency countermeasures.

“I requested the agriculture ministry to maintain a detailed watch on market circumstances and compensate for FTA-related losses,” Rep. Wi Seong-gon of the ruling Democratic Occasion of Korea mentioned in a social media submit on Tuesday.

The primary opposition Individuals Energy Occasion emphasised the necessity for insurance policies that defend your complete citrus trade, not simply particular person farmers.

Progressive minor events demanded stronger motion.

“The federal government ought to cease increasing tariff-free imports of U.S. mandarins,” the Justice Occasion’s Jeju department mentioned in an announcement. “We have to request an emergency import management or an emergency tariff.”

As the difficulty coincided with public criticism of Coupang over its information breach, Jeju’s farmers additionally talked about the e-commerce large when calling for countermeasures towards U.S. mandarin imports.

“We strongly warn Coupang for selling the distribution of imported agricultural merchandise,” the farmers’ teams mentioned. “The platform is not only a gross sales channel — it influences costs, shopper decisions and your complete agricultural market.”

In 2024, Coupang earned 3.15 trillion gained ($2.2 billion) in income from imported meals gross sales. Nevertheless, the corporate has by no means donated to the general public fund established to help farmers and fishers affected by FTAs.

Jeju’s farmers urged the e-commerce agency to spice up gross sales of home citrus merchandise and curb its promotion of imported produce.