The administration is investigating several countries that are dumping low-priced goods in U.S. markets.
The Department of Commerce intends to withdraw from an agreement with Mexico on tomato imports, a move that will let the Trump administration impose 21 percent duties on the product.
The 2019 Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Investigation on Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico will be terminated in 90 days as it has “failed to protect U.S. tomato growers from unfairly priced Mexican imports,” said an April 14 statement from the department.
On Sept. 19, 2019, the Commerce Department during President Donald Trump’s first term enforced the agreement based on a commitment from Mexican producers and exporters that tomatoes would not be sold below an established reference price, thus preventing the undercutting of domestic producers.
However, according to the latest announcement, there has been a flood of complaints that compelled the Commerce Department to terminate the agreement.
Hence, the department “will institute an antidumping duty order on July 14, 2025, resulting in duties of 20.91 percent on most imports of tomatoes from Mexico,” allowing U.S. tomato growers to compete fairly in the marketplace.
The 2019 agreement was finalized after Mexico allowed the Commerce Department to audit up to 80 tomato producers and U.S. sellers per quarter, in addition to closing certain loopholes that allowed for selling tomatoes below the reference prices. It also allowed for “an inspection mechanism to prevent the importation of low-quality, poor-condition tomatoes from Mexico” that had price-suppressive impacts in the U.S. market.
Based on Department of Agriculture data, in 2024, the United States imported around 2.35 million tons of tomatoes. This includes cherry, grape, plum, and round types. The total value of these imports came to approximately $3.63 billion.
The majority of imports by volume, over 80 percent for cherry and round, and over 90 percent for plum and grape, were from Mexico. Canada was in a distant second.
According to a report last year from industry publication California Fruit and Vegetable, over half of Mexico’s tomato production is exported to the United States. Hence, the tariffs are expected to have a significant impact on the country’s exporters.
