The U.S. tomato industry is applauding the U.S. Department of Commerce’s decision to terminate the 2019 U.S.-Mexico Tomato Suspension Agreement, which will become effective July 14, 2025.
“This is a major victory for American agriculture,” said Robert Guenther, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange. “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 (Trump) administration for standing strong in support of American farmers and the rule of law against unfair foreign trade practices.”
The Commerce Department’s decision came in response to a 2023 petition from the tomato industry, which was supported 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.
Suspension agreement
Mexican tomato companies have consistently dumped their product into the U.S. market, despite five suspension agreements since 1996. Since the first agreement was in place, Mexican tomato imports have surged nearly 400%, capturing more than 70% of the U.S. market. The domestic market share dropped from 80% to 30% during that same timeframe.
“The tomato suspension agreement failed American farmers,” Guenther added. “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.”
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection will begin requiring antidumping cash deposits on entries of Mexican tomatoes as of July 14, 2025.
The member companies of the Florida Tomato Exchange produce more than 90% of the tomatoes produced in Florida and are among the largest producers of tomatoes in California, Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Source: Florida Tomato Exchange