US says may squash tomato trade deal with Mexico

Sep. 27, 2012 11:42 PM ET

US says may squash tomato trade deal with Mexico

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Commerce Department on Thursday indicated it may side with Florida tomato growers and squash a 16-year-old trade agreement with Mexico.

The move would allow U.S. growers to seek anti-dumping duties on imports of fresh tomatoes from Mexico. Tomato growers in Florida have sought to have the agreement ended, arguing that it is outdated and that Mexican imports are crippling the domestic industry.

Mexico's government says such a move would damage its trade relations with the United States, its partner in the North American Free Trade Agreement. It said the country's trade in tomatoes with the United States was worth over $1.8 billion in 2011.

The Commerce Department said it will make a final determination on the future of the tomato agreement in no later than 270 days.
Mexican tomato growers had sought a meeting last month to find a "mutually satisfactory" solution to the tomato issue, the country's Economy Department said Thursday.

"The Economy Department expresses its deep concern over the negative impact this preliminary decision could have on our bilateral trade relationship."

It noted that ending the agreement would lead to higher prices for U.S. consumers.

The decision is "inconsistent with the position expressed in the past, that the agreement is in the (U.S.) public interest."

SantafeNewMexican.com with news from The Associated Press

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Tomato growers in Florida have sought to have the agreement ended, arguing that it is outdated and that Mexican imports are crippling the domestic industry.

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Crippling the industry? Excuse me, but has everyone suddenly forgotten the incredibly high prices of tomatoes for the last few years? Please, crippled industry my butt. And exactly where are the savings from buying these tomatoes from Mexico? To heck with that, I mostly grow my own!

W

http://www.alipac.us/f19/70-years-to...on-end-224210/

April 13, 2011
San Diego County, CA.



Harry Singh & Sons isn't the first tomato operation to be affected by imports and rising costs. A year ago, Gargiulo Inc., a Fresno-based tomato producer, restructured its business . . .

I guess they could trade Florida tomatoes for Mexican heroin and marijuana and that would keep those running Mexico happy.

U.S. helps Florida tomato growers, angers Mexico

By Rob Hotakainen
McClatchy Newspapers
By Rob Hotakainen McClatchy Newspapers
Last modified: 2012-09-28T05:14:57Z
Published: Friday, Sep. 28, 2012 - 12:00 am | Page 7B

WASHINGTON – Rejecting warnings that it could ignite a trade war, the Obama administration on Thursday said it planned to change its tomato-trading rules with Mexico, siding with Florida growers who complained that a glut of imports threatened to shut down the U.S. industry.

In the long-awaited ruling, the Commerce Department said the U.S. can change the trading rules to benefit domestic growers without violating its obligations under the World Trade Organization.

While its ruling is preliminary, the department said it planned to scrap a 1996 agreement, allowing the federal government to resume an investigation into whether Mexican growers are dumping tomatoes in the United States at below-market prices.

Mexican officials say the dispute is important because it could force U.S. consumers to pay three to four times as much for fresh tomatoes and lead to fewer jobs for farm workers on both sides of the border. They said it also will put a strain on relations between the two longtime trading partners and ultimately could lead to declining exports of other products to Mexico.

"We're stunned – we're completely stunned," said Martin Ley, executive vice president of Del Campo Supreme, a company that grew more than 200 million pounds of tomatoes in Mexico last year. "This does not serve the interests of the U.S. consumer."

Arturo Sarukhan, the Mexican ambassador to the United States, said the Mexican government was "extremely disappointed" and suggested that the ruling could lead to retaliation, comparing it to a bitter fight over cross-border trucking that resulted in Mexico putting tariffs on a long list of U.S. exports.

The ruling is a victory for the Florida Tomato Exchange, which represents a majority of growers in the state. With Mexico now accounting for more than 70 percent of the U.S. import market for tomatoes, it has resulted in "a catastrophic collapse" of the domestic industry, said Reggie Brown of Maitland, Fla., executive director of the Florida Tomato Exchange. In the past 16 years, he said, domestic growers have suffered while the size of the Mexican tomato industry in the U.S. has doubled in size and tripled in value.

After producing 38 million 25-pound boxes of tomatoes last year, Florida growers had a higher-valued crop than any other state. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Florida growers accounted for nearly half – or $547 million – of the $1.3 billion fresh tomato industry in 2011. California, with a crop valued at $378 million, ranked second.

U.S. helps Florida tomato growers, angers Mexico - Business - The Sacramento Bee

By Mark Krikorian
September 28, 2012 3:09 P.M
National Review

The Obama administration has made a move to protect swing-state Florida tomato growers from Mexican imports. Mexican tomato exports to the U.S. have grown rapidly, totaling about $2 billion a year and accounting for half the fresh tomatoes consumed during the winter months; the industry employs some 350,000 Mexicans in Mexico. The Florida farmers have seen their market share shrink and now want the U.S. government to limit the import of Mexican tomatoes.

But not the import of Mexicans. Mexican illegal aliens account for most of the workers in the Florida tomato industry, centered on the town of Immokalee. Worried that the government may get serious about ending illegal employment, the industry has been at the forefront of efforts to import unlimited numbers of foreign workers to slave away in their fields. And I don’t use “slave” to mean the captive form of labor represented by guest-worker programs. I mean actual slaves; there have been numerous slavery prosecutions of Florida tomato growers, whose exploitation of foreign workers is more brazen and appalling than any other industry in the United States.

So, the question is: Do we want to pursue the mercantilist, beggar-thy-neighbor approach of the Florida tomato growers, and import Mexican workers to pick their tomatoes, or do we opt for freer trade, and let Mexicans pick their own tomatoes and sell them to us?

Do your duty as a patriotic American — buy Mexican tomatoes.

Illegal Immigration vs. Free Trade - By Mark Krikorian - The Corner - National Review Online

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