Tomato growers applaud tomato suspension agreement termination

American tomato farmers nationwide and the Florida Tomato Exchange (FTE) applauded the April 15 announcement by the U.S. Department of Commerce to terminate the 2019 U.S.-Mexico Tomato Suspension Agreement, effective July 14.

“This is a major victory for American agriculture,” Robert Guenther, FTE’s executive vice president, said in a news release. “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. We thank the administration for standing strong in support of American farmers and the rule of law against unfair foreign trade practices.”

The Commerce Department’s decision comes in response to a 2023 petition from the U.S. tomato industry, which was backed by more than 60 bipartisan members of Congress from 11 states, the American Farm Bureau Federation, state Farm Bureaus from all nine major tomato-producing states, and 15 fruit and vegetable trade associations across the country.

Despite five suspension agreements since 1996, Mexican tomato companies have continued to dump product into the U.S. market, undercutting American growers and circumventing enforcement mechanisms, according to the release.

Since the first agreement, Mexican tomato imports have surged nearly 400%, capturing more than 70% of the U.S. market. During that same period, the U.S. industry’s market share has dropped from 80% to 30%, according to the release.

In 2019, the Commerce Department found Mexican tomatoes were being dumped in the U.S. at high margins and the U.S. International Trade Commission unanimously confirmed the material injurious effect of that dumping on the American tomato industry. The decision enforces the findings and moves to restore fair competition in the marketplace, according to the release.

“The tomato suspension agreement failed American farmers,” Guenther said in the release. “It has been impossible to enforce and easy to evade. Today’s action finally ends the cycle of harm that has decimated the American tomato industry over nearly three decades.”

When the agreement ends July 14, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will begin requiring antidumping cash deposits on entries of Mexican tomatoes as of that date. No additional investigative steps are required, as the underlying antidumping case was completed in 2019, according to the release.