Mexican tomato exporters fear that Florida producers in the United States may curb the suspension agreement that allows them to send tomatoes to that market without tariffs, which would artificially increase its price and put the crops at risk, said the director of the Commission for the Investigation and Defense of the Vegetables of Sinaloa of the Confederation of Agricultural Associations of the State of Sinaloa (CAADES), Mario Robles.
Last week, the Florida Tomato Exchange requested the US Department of Commerce to revoke the suspension agreement that has existed with Mexico since 1996, under which domestic exporters avoid paying 17.5% of tariffs on tomato, based on a research conducted more than 22 years ago that indicated that the food was sold below its real price.
The problem is that if the suspension agreement, which should be renewed at the beginning of April next year, is revoked, US authorities would begin to collect tariffs that were initially set at 17.5%; a price that not many Mexican tomato exporters would be able to pay.
The petition of Florida producers "concerns us because we have the plantings, the tomatoes are small and we'll start harvesting them in December. If we the suspension agreement isn't extended in March or April, it would hit us very hard, as we would be in the middle of the season, which ends in June."
Source: El Universal
