Obama administration asked to avert US-Mexico tomato war
The U.S. Department of Commerce today announced it is opening a review of the trade agreement in response to Florida tomato growers seeking to end the pact that has governed the price of imported Mexican vine-ripened tomatoes since 1996.
“Special interest groups are using election-year politics to try to start a trade war that will disrupt a 16-year track record of success for bringing fair prices to consumers and healthy variety to family dinner tables,” said Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, an organization of U.S.-based fresh fruit and vegetable importers. “In this economy, the last thing we need is a trade war with our second largest trading partner that hits American families in the pocketbook.”
The United States is Mexico’s largest importer of tomatoes with imports totaling $1.3 billion last year.
U.S. officials have expressed concern that if Florida special interests are successful in convincing the administration to end the tomato trade agreement, Mexico could retaliate against American agricultural exports to Mexico. Last year the United States exported billions of dollars of farm products to Mexico including $870 million in poultry, $816 million in pork, $762 million in beef and $39 million in potatoes, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics.
“Time and time again, we have seen how allowing politics to influence trade decisions creates far more losers than winners in the long run,” U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said in a letter to the Department of Commerce. The current agreement has bipartisan support from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
That trade pact, known as the Tomato Suspension Agreement, has kept the prices of Mexican and American tomatoes on fair footing in the marketplace by setting guidelines for Mexican tomato prices.
“If the Commerce Department were to permit this action, it would raise prices to consumers at the checkout line at a time when Americans can least afford it,” U.S. Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ) said in a letter to Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca M. Blank.
The agreement also has provided consumers greater tomato choices, particularly in winter months when the vine-ripened Mexican tomatoes are available in U.S. stores. Many U.S.-grown winter tomatoes, including those raised in Florida, are picked green and treated with a gas that later turns them red for sale in supermarkets.
"In the past 20 years, Mexican tomato farmers have shifted toward tomato varieties that meet the more sophisticated tastes of American consumers," Jungmeyer said. "Shoppers today have the choice of tomatoes-on-the-vine, cluster tomatoes, cocktail tomatoes, multi-colored heirloom varieties, grape tomatoes and other flavorful varieties.
"It would be against consumer interest to effectively pull these items from the shelf so that a narrow interest group can limit its competition through protectionism," Jungmeyer added.
For more information:
Allison Moore
Email: amoore@freshfrommexico.com
Tel: +1 520 247 9779
www.savemytomato.com