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Mexican tomato tariffs stay in place following ITC review

The U.S. International Trade Commission has unanimously decided to uphold anti-dumping tariffs on Mexican tomatoes.

Florida Tomato Exchange manager Robert Guenther tells Brownfield, “Grower after grower across the country, not just in Florida, that grows tomatoes, have been strapped because of low prices that they know are coming in below cost of production, which is the definition of dumping.”

He says growers have been trying to prove import harm for more than three decades and finally got relief last year when a 2019 suspension agreement was terminated.

“We’ve been through now two ITC hearings,” says. “We’ve had five failed suspension agreements. Our market share in the U.S. domestic market has gone from 80% to 30%. At the same time, we’ve seen increases in Mexican imports of 400%.

In January, Mexican producers asked for a change of circumstances review to remove the 17 percent tariff.

Guenther says the 40 percent increase in tomato prices earlier this year is an example of why the U.S. needs to protect domestic food production.

“We saw a confluence of several events, freezes in Florida, challenges with rain and other weather, pests and disease, and even labor issues in Mexico that all came together at the same time, which reduced the availability of tomatoes coming into the U.S., and you saw this sudden, drastic spike,” he says.

USDA says as of 2023, domestic field-grown fresh market tomato production has declined 49 percent from 2010 and 63 percent since 2000.

Farmer members of the Florida Tomato Exchange represent more than half of fresh tomato production in the U.S.