Mexico is confident in achieving a new “suspension agreement” in its tomato exports to the United States, with which a agreed base price is established.
The current tomato suspension agreement establishes reference prices for Round and Rome type at 0.31 dollars La Libra, tomatoes with stem at 0.46/lb., Tomatoes in the vine to 0.50/lb., Special loose tomatoes at 0.49/lb., And special packaged tomatoes at 0.59/lb.
In addition, organic tomatoes have a price 40% higher than non -organic.
The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, was optimistic on Tuesday in which a new agreement will be reached over the next 90 days.
A day before, the United States government announced that it will impose a compensatory fee of 20.91% to most Mexican tomato imports, with its entry into force as of July 14, after withdrawing from the current suspension agreement.
The United States imported Mexican tomatoes for a customs value of 3,243 million dollars in 2024, a 15 percent rise.
“We do not believe that it happens, because there are 90 days. This process has already been done many times and has always won Mexico. But in the case, even that this sanction would be applied, anyway, the Mexican tomato would continue to export to the United States because it has no substitute; the main problem that would be more expensive to the tomatoes in the United States,” Sheinbaum said at a conference at the National Palace.
At the request of Florida tomato producers, the elimination of the suspension agreement between the two countries implied the reactivation of anti -dumping research, suspended since 1996, and that Mexican tomato exporters can face the payment of provisional compensatory rights.
In April 1996, Florida Tomateros and some other United States states requested the beginning of an anti -dumping investigation against Mexican tomato exports.
In November of the same year, the Department of Commerce determined in its preliminary resolution that there were margins of Dumping in the investigation, but at the same time suspended the investigation due to a price commitment that allowed the signing of a suspension agreement of anti -dumping investigation between Mexican producers/exporters and the trade department itself.
The suspension agreement, although conditions the entry of Mexican tomato to the United States, has worked well for the Mexican industry, creating certainty in commercial flows and has channeled one of the main commercial disputes between Mexico and the United States. The suspension agreement has been renewed in 2002, 2008, 2013 and 2019.
Encrying
The Secretary of Agriculture, Julio Berdegué, also expressed his confidence in this other way: “That their tomatoes are going to be more expensive, their salads, their ketchup and everything are going to be expensive. Of course, they cannot replace us, because it is not that there are a lot of other countries that produce this amount of excellent tomatoes at a very convenient price; if they want to do it, then they will simply pay their tomatoes.”
Then he added: “Then, the truth is that there are 90 days left. They already did it in 2019, the same as right now, very similar and there it was negotiated, he talked, it was negotiated, Mexico defended himself, gave his arguments and reached the agreement that was in force until right now.”
The current tomato suspension agreement guarantees that signatory producers and exporters sell all fresh and refrigerated tomatoes to the United States at the agreed reference price or above it. Tomatoes destined for transformation are exempt.
