Tomato Duties on Mexican Imports Begin as Mexican Growers Seek Injunction
Mexican tomato growers are seeking a federal injunction to prevent the collection of cash deposits on imports of fresh tomatoes and block the resumption of the antidumping investigation until the court rules whether the suspension agreement termination was legal. Suspension of liquidation and cash deposit requirements for Mexican tomatoes took effect May 7 (see 1905100054).
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The Confederacion de Asociaciones Agrícolas del Estado de Sinaloa declined to settle with Florida tomato growers on their terms on May 10, and explained why on May 13. CAADES said that the proposal "would have stripped U.S. supermarkets and other buyers of Mexican tomatoes of their legal rights to reject tomatoes with condition defects and be reimbursed for their costs." The Mexican group is trying to block the collection of cash deposits as the antidumping investigation resumes through a federal injunction. It alleges that the termination of the suspension agreement was unlawful, because it was done two days before the International Trade Commission was to rule in a sunset review. CAADES says the ITC might have ruled there is no injury to tomato growers at that time.
The first antidumping investigation, from 1996, was suspended without reaching a conclusion; the suspension agreement's terms were renegotiated in 2013 (see 13020427), after renewals in 2002 and 2007. A spokesman for the Florida Tomato Exchange said, "the domestic industry agreed to key elements of a new Commerce Department proposal for an effective and fair agreement. We are disappointed to learn that the Mexican tomato industry has rejected that proposal."
Importers of Mexican tomatoes are displeased by the trade tensions. The Border Trade Alliance said, "We believe that productive conversations between the Department of Commerce and Mexico tomato growers could have continued without a total withdrawal from the agreement. We take the Department at its word that negotiations over a possible revised agreement will continue," and said it hopes those talks are conducted with urgency. "We hope that agricultural trade between the U.S. and Mexico will soon be conducted tariff-free. Good trade policy should reflect the needs of consumers and the U.S. economy broadly, not the concerns of a small but vocal band of regional interests."