The US Government said Monday It places a duty of 17.09% on most fresh Mexican tomatoes, after negotiations on alleged unfair commercial practices ended without an agreement to avert the rate.
Proponents said that the import tax will help rebuild the shrinking American tomato industry and to ensure that the products that are eaten in the United States is also grown there. But opponents, including American companies that grow tomatoes in Mexico, said the rate will make fresh tomatoes more expensive for American buyers.
Mexico currently supplies around 70% of the American tomato market, an increase of 30% two decades ago, according to the Florida Tomato Exchange.
The move comes in the middle Expect 30% rates from August. Trader Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a statement on Monday that the decision on tomatoes “is in accordance with trade policy and the approach of President Trump with Mexico.”
“Mexico remains one of our greatest allies, but for far too long our farmers are crushed by unfair commercial practices that undermine the price for products such as tomatoes. That ends today,” Lutnick said in a rack.
The tomato exchange of Florida praised the move in a statement on Monday. The executive vice president of the group, Robert Guenther, called it “a huge victory for American tomato farmers and American agriculture.”
The Commerce department said at the end of April That it withdrew from a deal that achieved it for the first time with Mexico in 2019 to settle accusations that the country exported tomatoes to the US at artificially low prices, a practice known as dumping. The decision to withdraw from the Tomato Suspension Agreement was set to take effect in 90 days.
As part of the Deal 2019, Mexico had to sell his tomatoes at a minimal price and adhere to other rules. Since then, the agreement has been subject to periodic assessments, but the two parties have always reached an agreement that avoids tasks.
When announcing the withdrawal from the agreement, the Commerce department said at the end of April that it was “flooded with comments” by American tomato growers who wanted better protection against Mexican import.
But others, including the American Chamber of Commerce and the National Restaurant Association, had called on the Commerce department to reach an agreement with Mexico.
In a letter sent to Lutnick last week, the Chamber of Commerce and 30 other business groups said that American companies employ 50,000 employees and generate $ 8.3 billion in economic benefits that move tomatoes from Mexico to communities throughout the country.
“We are concerned that the withdrawal from the agreement – at a time when the business community already navigates through considerable commercial insecurity – can lead to retaliation of our trading partners against other raw materials and crops that can cause further deprivation for American companies and consumers,” the letter said.
The run -up to Monday’s decision criticized some Democrats.
“Arizona, buy your tomatoes now !!” Senator Ruben Gallego, a Democrat in Arizona, wrote on X. last week “Groceries are already too expensive. [Mr. Trump] Should this decision be reversed now. “
“Salsa will be more sustainable, shelves of emptier and groceries more expensive. Tens of thousands of jobs, including 30,000 Texans, will be in danger,” Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a Democrat in Texas, written On X.
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