By Clint Thompson
The termination of the U.S.-Mexico Tomato Suspension Agreement will have immediate and long-term impacts on the tomato industry.
Robert Guenther, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange, described what he envisions the ramifications will be following last week’s historic decision.
“I think as we move from summer into the fall, winter season, I think what you’re going to see is a more consistent, fairly based price that allows the U.S. tomato grower to compete much more fairly than they’ve been able to in the last five iterations of this agreement,” Guenther said. “I think long term, where do you look to invest as the support for domestic tomatoes continues to increase, where do you look to invest to build infrastructure that will allow the industry to build back some of its ability to compete more thoroughly throughout the year.
“True supply chain stability comes from maintaining multiple suppliers. That includes the domestic tomato industry. This is not where Mexican tomatoes are going to disappear, but we need to stabilize the domestic supply chain of tomatoes here in the United States, so we have a domestic supply of fresh tomatoes for consumers.”
Suspension Agreement Background
The U.S. Department of Commerce found that Mexican tomatoes were being dumped in the U.S. at high levels in 2019, and the U.S. ITC confirmed the material injurious effect of that dumping on the American tomato industry.
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.
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 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