Florida Citrus Industry Nears Bankruptcy Under Trump Tariffs

The Florida citrus industry—already battered by hurricanes and crop diseases—is on the brink of collapse as Donald Trump threatens to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian goods, Craig Pittman wrote for Florida Phoenix.

The latest USDA crop forecast projects that this season’s orange harvest will be a mere 12 million boxes.

“In 2012, Florida had 950,000 acres zoned for citrus, but by 2023, more than half had been lost,” The Tampa Bay Times reported. A major labor group representing growers has since shut down due to financial constraints.

Trump’s escalating trade war with Canada is expected to further damage Florida’s citrus sector.

Canada, which sources 60% of its imported orange juice from Florida, could reduce its purchases in response to the tariffs, hurting demand.

Meanwhile, Trump’s crackdown on undocumented labor is exacerbating the crisis. The labor shortage has become so severe that Fort Myers-based Alico Inc. announced last month that it is exiting the citrus business entirely.

“We determined that it’s not economically viable for us,” CEO John Kiernan told Gulfshore Business. Like many other former citrus businesses, Alico is now shifting its focus to a different, more profitable crop: real estate development.

According to the Florida State Archives, citrus production in the state increased from 43 million boxes in 1945 to 72 million in 1952, with frozen concentrate production booming in the 1950s.

During the industry’s peak in the 1990s, Florida growers harvested 240 million boxes of fruit annually. By 2022, however, production had plummeted to just 41 million boxes—the lowest since World War II.

The latest USDA crop forecast projects that this season’s orange harvest will be a mere 12 million boxes—a decline Pittman compared to the fall of the Roman Empire.

“It’s a rather dismal time for the industry,” said Fritz Roka, director of the Center for Agribusiness at Florida Gulf Coast University. “It’s sad because citrus has been such a big part of our culture.”