Commerce Department Withdrawing From Agreement Suspending AD on Tomatoes From Mexico
The Commerce Department announced April 14 it will be withdrawing from an agreement suspending an antidumping duty investigation on Mexican-origin fresh tomatoes and issuing an antidumping duty order on the produce.
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The department said it will be terminating the 2019 agreement on July 14, as 90 days' notice is required by the agreement's terms. On that date, it also will be rescinding "one of two ongoing administrative reviews" -- the review covering imports entered between Sept. 1, 2023, and Aug. 31, 2024. The "ongoing administrative reviews of the 2019 Agreement" will "continue on schedule during the 90-day period," it said.
Two House members, Reps. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., and Mario Díaz-Balar, R-Fla., supported the move. Díaz-Balart said in a press release that the decision followed "multiple engagements" with Commerce. In his own press release, Buchanan said he had twice attempted to have the Biden administration revoke the 2019 suspension agreement.
"For too long, Florida farmers have been hurt by one-sided foreign trade deals like the Tomato Suspension Agreement, which flooded U.S. markets with Mexican tomatoes and put American tomato growers at a significant disadvantage," Díaz-Balart said.
The Border Trade Alliance, which promotes "cross-border trade," released a statement saying that the move is "inconsistent with USMCA." It also said that U.S. consumers can expect higher tomato prices after the withdrawal.
"More than 400 businesses have written to the Department of Commerce urging maintenance of the Tomato Suspension Agreement because there are too many jobs, and there is too much economic activity connected to the tomato trade to sacrifice them for certain regional agricultural interests’ attempts to tilt the rules of trade in their favor," it said.