<P> The banana has an extensive trade history starting with firms such as the Irish Fyffes and the US United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) at the end of the 19th century . For much of the 20th century, bananas and coffee dominated the export economies of Central America . In the 1930s, bananas and coffee made up as much as 75% of the region's exports . As late as 1960, the two crops accounted for 67% of the exports from the region . Though the two were grown in similar regions, they tended not to be distributed together . The United Fruit Company based its business almost entirely on the banana trade, because the coffee trade proved too difficult to control . The term "banana republic" has been applied to most countries in Central America, but from a strict economic perspective only Costa Rica, Honduras, and Panama had economies dominated by the banana trade . </P> <P> The European Union has traditionally imported many of its bananas from former European Caribbean colonies, paying guaranteed prices above global market rates (see Lomé Convention). These arrangements have now been largely withdrawn under pressure from other major trading powers, principally the United States . The withdrawal of these indirect subsidies to Caribbean producers is expected to favour the more efficient banana producers of Central America, in which American companies have an economic interest . In addition, small - scale Caribbean producers are finding it difficult to comply with increasingly strict certification requirements . Some support is being provided to Caribbean countries under the EU's Banana Accompanying Measures (BAM). </P> <P> The United States produces few bananas . A mere 14,000 tonnes (14,000 long tons; 15,000 short tons) were grown in Hawaii in 2001 . Bananas were once grown in Florida and southern California . In 2012, the United States imported 27 percent of all bananas traded internationally, a total of approximately 4,350,000 tonnes (4,280,000 long tons; 4,800,000 short tons) of bananas with an import cost of almost $4.3 billion (equivalent to $4.5 billion in 2016). </P> <P> In March 2014 it was announced that Fyffes and Chiquita would merge to create the world's largest banana company, worth about $1 bn (£ 597m). The new firm, named ChiquitaFyffes, is expected to sell about 160 million boxes of bananas annually . </P>

When were bananas first imported to the us