Posted on 04/14/2025 8:29:18 PM PDT by Enterprise
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced its intent to withdraw from the 2019 Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Investigation on Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico, with termination effective in 90 days. The current agreement has failed to protect U.S. tomato growers from unfairly priced Mexican imports, as Commerce has been flooded with comments from them urging its termination. This action will allow U.S. tomato growers to compete fairly in the marketplace.
With the termination of this agreement, Commerce will institute an antidumping duty order on July 14, 2025, resulting in duties of 20.91% on most imports of tomatoes from Mexico.
(Excerpt) Read more at trade.gov ...
The agreement was the doing of President Trump in the 1st place (along with the “NAFTA” replacement “USMCA” trade agreement).
Before pruning down to one per cup.
In supermarkets, even upscale ones like Whole Foods, almost all tomatoes come from Mexico. I want to eat produce from the good old USA, so I try to do my vegetable shopping in farmer’s markets.
“ The agreement was the doing of President Trump in the 1st place ”
*****************************************
You don’t approve of leaders who recognize errors they made and correct them? This is a perfect time for parasitic government employees to go into the tomato raising business after they are plied loose from the American taxpayers’ collective bodies. Honest work and an honest living producing what people want.
Leon says those people would be of more value to the economy if they were to grow tomatoes rather than continuing to draw government paychecks.
“In supermarkets, even upscale ones like Whole Foods, almost all tomatoes come from Mexico”
Tomatoes are seasonal. Peak season in the US is May to October. Peak season in Mexico is October to December. So it depends when you are shopping.
First they went for my guacamole and nobody cared. Now they are after my salsa.
I planted my tomatoes a week ago so I’m good! Tariff away!
I planted my tomatoes a week ago so I’m good! Tariff away!
Most tomatoes in supermarkets are from Mexico year-round.
Someone needs to start growing Tomatoes again that are worth eating.
The dirty little secret there is that a lot of the farmer’s markets are filled with produce from the grocery store, bought in bulk when on sale, the resold at a markup you think is a bargain for being at the farmer’s market.
I know that goes on here at least, I suspect it does elsewhere.
They don't travel well and can't sit on a shelf for two weeks. That and a nice globe shape and red color are all that matters to sellers/distributors. Taste is at the bottom of the list for selection.
There are some good fruits you'll never see in the store because they don't travel well and only last a few days once harvested or they're simply not attractive enough. Paw Paw is one that's short lived after harvest. Green Gage plum is tasty but not attractive.
We are a shallow people.
Growing your own is only half of the picture. And it can be more expensive than just buying them fresh at a slightly higher price. Been there done that and did the math.
Cost of the extra water, fertilizer, pest control.
Preserving them through the rest of the year, which means canning them at a cost and no fresh Tomatoes after harvest season.
Time and labor, what is your time and labor worth?
Will it truly make up the difference or save much? Like an article here pointed out yesterday, this is 20% on “import” price, not retail price. So figure retail price increase would actually only be about 10%.
I only buy Roma Tomatoes anymore. They keep fairly well and still have some flavor compared to others.
I was in the fresh produce business for awhile and the problem is transportation. Too many products are too far from their markets. So they have to be picked green and ripen on the way to market. This practices doesn’t give them time on the vine to get fully flavored as they should be. Back in the day everyone had local sources and they could fully ripen on the plant like they should before being picked. But the smaller local sources were pushed out by the bigger supply corporations. They just could not compete against the pricing and yearly supply.
Appear in the People’s Republic of Maine, we have some indoor tomato growing operations that produce wonderful Vine ripened tomatoes. Not cheap, but then with the number of tomatoes we eat in a week, not a huge dent in the wallet.
Maybe we’ll start getting fresher tomatoes....
I promise you, these tomatoes are not being exported to Mexico:
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.