By Tibor Fischl has been growing goji berries in Sonoma, California, and Washington’s Yakima Valley since 2013.
“I don’t recommend it,” he said.
The nutrient-packed East Asian fruit, which is typically sold dried and blitzed into smoothies or sprinkled over granola, is among the many specialty foods that consumers in the United States rely on foreign growers to provide.
A handful of American farmers grow small volumes of those ingredients domestically, from truffles and lavender to wasabi. Many say it’s tough going, and warn there’s no way they could satisfy U.S. demand at reasonable prices if shifting trade policies were to make their products’ foreign-grown counterparts pricier or harder to get.
Many specialty crops mature slowly and require hefty upfront investments, which is why they tend to be heritage industries in their home countries — often places where stronger local demand, lower labor and shipping costs, and deep cultivation expertise make these items relatively more affordable.
Chinese farmers have grown goji berries for centuries, and they can be bought online for about $20-$30 per pound in the U.S., said Fischl, the CEO of Goji Farm USA. He sells his own for $224 per pound to a dedicated clientele that pays a premium for homegrown health foods. But his price point means President Donald Trump’s new 10% tariffs on China, which took effect last week and drew swift retaliation from Beijing, won’t make his berries more competitive.
“The good news is people have proven that they will show up and pay the prices needed for us to have an existence here,” Fischl said. His business isn’t exactly booming, he said, but “it’s too late for regret.”
In just a few weeks in office, Trump has introduced steeper trade barriers and threats that have triggered uncertainty among allies and rivals alike. His moves have rattled the agricultural sector, even though some farmers expect the policy changes to entice more professional and amateur growers to try planting foreign ingredients that fetch high prices.
The American Farm Bureau said last week that its members “support the goals of security and ensuring fair trade with our North American neighbors and China, but, unfortunately, we know from experience that farmers and rural communities will bear the brunt of retaliation.”Trump imposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico that could take effect next month if diplomacy doesn’t forestall them — or the countermeasures both countries have vowed in response. Trump has also threatened the European Union with steeper import taxes and campaigned on “universal” tariffs of up to 20% on every foreign product, fees economists expect consumers to pay.
Niche produce farmers in the U.S. are poised to benefit from some of these trade policies, at least in theory, and some have already succeeded in cornering a market for popular high-end ingredients with few domestic suppliers.
Shannon Maas was a collegiate track coach before becoming a wasabi farmer. He didn’t even know the pungent Japanese root could be cultivated in the U.S. until 2019, when he saw a social media video about it. After growing three test plants at home in Northern California, he cashed a Covid-19 stimulus check to buy a thousand more.
The gamble paid off, Maas said, and he’s now among the few domestic wasabi growers in the country. He sells his crops to some of San Francisco’s top restaurants for around $115-$150 per pound and collects a healthy profit, “although most of my money goes back into growing the farm or my mother’s Venezuelan family, who need the money more than we do,” he said.
“I’m trying to just make something out of nothing,” Maas added. “It’s the American dream.”
