WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The Trump administration announced Monday a duty of about 17 percent on fresh tomatoes from Mexico, which account for two-thirds of the tomatoes eaten in the US, and the end of an export deal between the two countries.
The Commerce Department said the US was withdrawing from a 2019 agreement with Mexico that suspended an antidumping duty investigation on Mexican tomatoes, whose exports to the US are valued at $3 billion a year.
The move came as President Donald Trump's administration seeks to negotiate comprehensive trade agreements with virtually every trading partner after the president launched a dizzying series of tariff announcements in April.
The US and Mexico first struck an agreement in 1996 to regulate Mexican tomato exports and address US complaints of unfair competition. The pact was last renewed six years ago to avert an antidumping investigation and end a tariff dispute.
Mexico said in April it was confident that it could renew the tomato agreement when Washington said it intended to withdraw from the deal.
The 17.09 percent antidumping duty is set at the percentage by which exported Mexican tomatoes have been unfairly underpriced in the United States, it said.
"For far too long our farmers have been crushed by unfair trade practices that undercut pricing on produce like tomatoes," US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.
Mexico's ministries of economy and agriculture said in a joint statement the US decision was "unfair" and against the interests of Mexican producers and the US industry.
The government said it would help local tomato producers seek a deal to suspend the tomato duty as well as support them in seeking new international markets.
Mexican tomato growers had offered proposals that were positive for the US, but were rejected for "political reasons," the statement added.
A group of five Mexican agriculture associations, including from Baja California and Sinaloa states, said they were committed to working with the Mexican government to find solutions.
"There are no countries in the world that can replace Mexican tomatoes in a market we have built through innovation and effort over the past 120 years," they said in a statement.
Before Monday's announcement, some experts, as well as Trump's opponents from the Democratic Party, warned that prices of tomato products would rise.
"Salsa will be pricier, shelves emptier, and groceries more expensive," US Representative Sylvia Garcia said on X on Friday.
Trump on Saturday separately threatened a 30 percent tariff on Mexican imports starting Aug. 1 after weeks of negotiations with the country failed to reach a comprehensive trade deal.
US growers have long sought protections from Mexican competitors who can often grow the fruits year round.
The 2019 agreement was supposed to set a floor on pricing and provided for US border inspections of crops. But US growers have long argued that the arrangement had too many loopholes that allowed for dumping of Mexican fruits.
