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In a major victory for Florida tomato growers, the U.S. Commerce Department has announced that it’s withdrawing from a 2019 agreement that had suspended an antidumping investigation into fresh tomato imports from Mexico.
That termination, set to take effect July 14, means most tomatoes from Mexico will be subject to a 20.91% tariff.
“This action will allow U.S. tomato growers to compete fairly in the marketplace,” said the Commerce Department in a statement issued Monday.
“This is a major victory for American agriculture,” Robert Guenther, Executive Vice President of the Florida Tomato Exchange, said in a statement. “For decades, American tomato farmers have suffered from unfair trade practices by Mexican tomato exporters.”
“Terminating this agreement and enforcing U.S. trade laws is the only way to finally give domestic growers the relief they’ve long deserved,” he added. “We thank the [Trump] Administration for standing strong in support of American famers and the rule of law against unfair foreign trade practices.”
Skyrocketing tomato imports from Mexico
The group reported that Mexican tomato imports to the U.S. skyrocketed nearly 400%, from more than 800 million pounds in 1994 to about 4 billion pounds in 2022.
The Florida Tomato Exchange, which represents tomato growers statewide, said its industry has been decimated by “an influx of cheap Mexican tomatoes” since 1994 — the year the then North American Free Trade Agreement was signed by the U.S., Mexico and Canada. They said hundreds of growers were forced to close down, killing half the industry since NAFTA went into effect.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, said he has argued for years that the U.S.-Mexico agreement “failed to protect American producers from unfair foreign trade practices.”
“[The] decision from President Trump’s administration is a major win for Florida farmers and growers across the country as they have suffered for years while the federal government allowed our markets to be flooded with artificially cheap tomatoes from Mexican producers grown with child and forced labor, making it impossible for local producers to compete,” said Scott in a statement.
U.S. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, R-Miami, said the move withdraw from the 2019 agreement was long overdue.
“For too long, Florida farmers have been hurt by one-sided foreign trade deals like the Tomato Suspension Agreement, which flooded U.S. markets with Mexican tomatoes and put American tomato growers at a significant disadvantage,” he said in a statement.
“This is a big win for Florida farmers,” he said. “This is another example of President Trump’s America First trade policies in action, and I thank him and his Administration for standing with our farmers and promoting fair trade policies.”
This story was originally produced by WLRN, South Florida’s only public radio station at 91.3 FM, as part of a content sharing partnership with Miami’s Community News. Read more at WLRN.org.
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