The Trump administration announced Monday that it would impose a 17 percent tariff on most imports of tomatoes from Mexico, as it withdrew from a decades-old trade agreement that had prevented those levies from snapping into place.
The tariffs will add to the price of a grocery store staple for many Americans, while also funneling more business to domestic tomato growers, largely in Florida.
The levies stem from a nearly 30-year-old trade case that found Mexican tomato growers to be selling their products in the United States at unfairly low prices. The U.S. tomato industry brought a case against their Mexican competitors in 1996, arguing that Mexican tomatoes dumped into the United States were injuring American growers. A U.S. trade court agreed with them, and ordered tariffs to be imposed.
But on five occasions since then — in 1996, 2002, 2008, 2013 and 2019 — the United States agreed to suspend the tariffs, as long as Mexican growers would keep their prices above a certain minimum level. The United States and Mexico had been in recent talks about entering into a new agreement.
“Mexico remains one of our greatest allies, but for far too long our farmers have been crushed by unfair trade practices that undercut pricing on produce like tomatoes,” Howard Lutnick, the secretary of commerce, said in a statement. “That ends today. This rule change is in line with President Trump’s trade policies and approach with Mexico.”
The 17 percent duty is calculated to measure the percentage by which Mexican tomatoes have been sold in the United States at unfair prices, the Commerce Department said. The United States imported $2.8 billion of tomatoes from Mexico in 2023, according to data from the World Bank, representing more than 85 percent of American imports.
The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, which represents companies that import and sell produce and flowers, said it was “disappointed” in the decision. It said that its members distributed vine-ripened, greenhouse-grown tomatoes from Mexico that are not replaceable by tomatoes grown in Florida and the Southeast, most of which are grown in an open field, picked green and gassed to induce a color change.
“As an industry, we are saddened that American consumers will have to pay a tomato tax, or duty, for a reduced selection of the tomatoes they prefer,” the group said.
Robert Guenther, the executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange, said that the previous five agreements with Mexico had failed, and that strong enforcement of U.S. trade laws was needed to protect “the stability of our food supply chain.”
“This decision will protect hardworking American tomato growers from unfair Mexican trading practices and send a strong signal that the Trump administration is committed to ensuring fair markets for American agriculture,” he said.
Ana Swanson covers trade and international economics for The Times and is based in Washington. She has been a journalist for more than a decade.
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