The frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ) citrus tariff was
initiated with the passage of the Smoot-Hawley Act (Tariff Act)
in 1930. The Tariff Act imposed a tax of 70 cents per single
strength equivalent gallon on imported citrus juice. The citrus
tariff remained unchanged until 1947 when the General Agreement
Tariffs and Trade (GATT) talks occurred in Geneva, Switzerland.
During the GATT discussions, the citrus tariff was lowered to 35
cents per single strength equivalent gallon. In 1963, the
Kennedy Administration attempted to pass legislation that would
reduce and possibly eliminate duties on imported citrus
products. Florida Citrus Mutual battled against this legislation
for four years. Fortunately, the hard work was rewarded and the
duty on fresh oranges was maintained. Later, in 1970, the U.S.
government again attempted to reduce citrus import tariffs.
American citrus growers had operational costs that were four
times higher than their foreign counterparts; therefore, a
reduction in tariffs would ren