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US-China trade war
OpinionComment
Stephen Vines
Stephen Vines

The View | Marmalade – however you eat it and wherever you get it – is something we owe to global trade

Stephen Vines says Chinese exports of marmalade to the US are small and unlikely to be decisive in the trade war, but marmalade is itself a product with a uniquely global production history, showing how much we benefit from international trade

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Plans for new US tariffs on preserves from China may have little monetary impact on the trade war, but do present an opportunity to consider the global process of how such products are produced. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Stephen Vines
Marmalade made the front page of this newspaper’s business section last week. This came as no surprise in the Vines household, where marmalade makes a daily appearance on the breakfast table, but the more prosaic reason was that this fine product has become a bit player in the Sino-US trade war.
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The minds designing the new US tariff regime for Chinese imports decided to include marmalade in the list of 7,000 categories of Chinese products targeted for tariffs. As a mere US$12,330 worth of marmalade was exported to the United States from China last year, it is safe to say its impact on the trade war will not be decisive.

Moreover, what is described as Chinese marmalade is nothing of the kind. I write with some knowledge of this subject and can affirm that what is called Chinese marmalade is at best a sweet sticky jam.

However, the marmalade trade happens to provide a pretty good way of stepping back from all the current nonsense and considering how trade evolves and how sane people accept the evolution and savour it.

The origins of marmalade are hard to pin down, but C. Anne Wilson, author of the seminal The Book of Marmalade, believes it started as a Portuguese sweet-tasting solid quince paste. The British, who often claim founding rights, began importing marmalade in the late 15th century for use as a medicine and a sweetmeat.

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