US
Hurricane Florence and US-China trade tensions are causing North Carolina farmers to worry.
In North Carolina, tobacco leaves are harvested annually three or four times a year. The last harvest, in October, renders the highest quality tobacco. Hurricane Florence, which hit in September 2018, changed that this year, destroying tobacco fields and costing farmers hundreds of thousands in tobacco sales.
Adding to that is the US-China trade war, which could possibly cut farmers’ sales in half and lead to potential contract cuts for next year. In 2017, North Carolina exported more than US$150 million in leaf tobacco to China, making China the largest consumer of the state’s tobacco in the world. However, in April, China raised the tariff on American tobacco from 10% to 35%.