Cost of everyday staple sold at Walmart and Kroger set to soar as decades-old deal expires
A decades-old trade pact that kept imported tomatoes cheap is about to expire — threatening to significantly raise prices on the staple ingredient.
Starting July 14, fresh tomatoes brought into the US from Mexico will face a new 17 percent tariff, after the Commerce Department announced plans to let the Tomato Suspension Agreement lapse.
The move ends a 29-year truce between the two nations that once promised to protect American farmers while keeping grocery prices in check.
Now, grocery stores could be caught in the middle.
'There's no scenario where I can absorb those tariffs,' Rodolfo Spielmann, CEO of NatureSweet, America's largest tomato distributor, told Bloomberg.
'The margins are not high enough.'
He expects a price jump of around 10 percent across his tomato lineup, which is sold at retailers like Walmart, Kroger, Whole Foods, and Albertsons.
NatureSweet's most iconic product — its Cherub grape tomatoes packaged in a bulbous plastic container with highlighter yellow stickers — has become a grocery aisle staple.
But like most tomatoes in US supermarkets, it's grown south of the border.
Mexico accounts for about 90 percent of America's tomato imports, and nearly three-quarters of all fresh tomatoes sold in the US are imported.
The original agreement was struck in 1996 after the US accused Mexican producers of product 'dumping,' or, selling a surplus of tomatoes at an artificially low price. The pact intended to empower American farmers.
The deal included price floors and random inspections. US officials have renegotiated the pact several times, including in 2019 during the first Trump administration.
'It hasn't worked,' Robert Guenther, the executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange, told Bloomberg.
'You've seen is a consistent reduction in the market share of US tomatoes.'
Republican lawmakers from Florida, a major tomato-producing state, welcomed the end of the agreement in an open letter.
'The termination of the suspension agreement will allow US tomato growers to compete fairly in the marketplace,' a letter from state Senators, Rick Scott and Ashley Moody, said.
American farmers have increasingly cut jobs in the tomato industry.
But alarm bells are also ringing for industry analysts.
The US has not produced enough tomatoes for domestic consumption for several decades.
A supply shock for tomatoes could push grocery inflation up even higher after years of increased food prices.
The looming tariff underscores a broader Republican trade dilemma — trying to lower prices for consumers while boosting domestic production.
For now, shoppers may be the ones footing the tomato bill.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
24 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump administration files misconduct complaint against prominent judge Boasberg
WASHINGTON, July 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Monday said it filed a misconduct complaint against Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, a prominent judge in Washington, D.C., who has drawn President Donald Trump's ire. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the complaint in a post on X days after Boasberg said he might initiate disciplinary proceedings against Justice Department lawyers for their conduct in a lawsuit brought by Venezuelans challenging their removal to a Salvadoran prison in March. The judge in April concluded the Trump administration appeared to have acted "in bad faith" when it hurriedly assembled three deportation flights on March 15 at the same time that he was conducting emergency court proceedings to assess the legality of the effort. The Justice Department's complaint focused on comments the conservative media outlet The Federalist this month reported that Boasberg made during a meeting of the judiciary's top policymaking body in March that was attended by Chief U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts. The Justice Department, in a complaint reviewed by Reuters, said that during the meeting, Boasberg expressed his concern to Roberts and others that the Trump administration would disregard court rulings and trigger "a constitutional crisis.' The Justice Department argued those comments eroded public confidence in judicial neutrality and ran afoul of the judicial code of conduct. It accused him of then acting on his belief by issuing an order that blocked the president from using wartime powers to deport Venezuelan migrants. Justice Department Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle addressed the complaint to Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Mizelle asked the federal appeals court to refer the complaint to a special investigative committee. He also requested that the deportations lawsuit be reassigned to a different judge. Boasberg's chambers did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Boasberg, a former federal prosecutor, was first appointed to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, who nominated him to the D.C. Superior Court in 2002. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, in 2011 appinted him to a U.S. District Court judgeship. Boasberg has been hearing a lawsuit brought on behalf of alleged Venezuelan gang members removed from the U.S. under the rarely invoked Alien Enemies Act. In an April order, Boasberg said there was "probable cause" to find the Trump administration in criminal contempt of court for violating his order to turn deportation flights around. The D.C. Circuit halted Boasberg's contempt finding days later, but has yet to rule on whether it should be reversed.
The Guardian
24 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy praises Trump for trimming Putin deadline by about 25 days
Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday said Donald Trump showed a 'clear stance and expressed determination' after the US president said he would cut the 50-day deadline he set for Russia to negotiate peace in Ukraine. Trump on Monday set a new but still imprecise deadline of '10 or 12 days from today' for Russia to make progress towards peace or face consequences. Trump's previous deadlines to end the war have included 'one day … 24 hours' and 'about two weeks … within two weeks' as well as '50 days'. Two weeks had already passed since Trump threatened to act within 50 days, leaving 36 days remaining of the original deadline. The new ultimatum of '10 or 12 days' means the US president has given Putin about 25 fewer days to deliberate. Trump has threatened sanctions on both Russia and buyers of its exports unless progress is made. On Monday, Trump indicated he was not interested in talking directly to Putin. 'If you know what the answer is going to be, why wait? And it would be sanctions and maybe tariffs, secondary tariffs,' Trump said. 'I don't want to do that to Russia. I love the Russian people.' Zelenskyy said: 'I thank President Trump for his focus on saving lives and stopping this horrible war … Russia pays attention to sanctions, pays attention to such losses.' The Russian airline Aeroflot was forced to cancel dozens of flights on Monday after an established pro-Ukraine hacking group said it had carried out a cyber-attack. Dan Milmo reports how departure boards at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport turned red as flights were cancelled at a time when many Russians take their holidays. Irate passengers vented their anger on social media. One wrote: 'I've been sitting at the Volgograd airport since 3:30! The flight has been rescheduled for the third time!' Another posted: 'The call centre is unavailable, the website is unavailable, the app is unavailable.' A statement purporting to be from a hacking group called Silent Crow said it had carried out the operation with a Belarusian group called Cyber Partisans, and linked it to the war in Ukraine. 'Glory to Ukraine! Long live Belarus!' said the statement. Silent Crow said the cyber-attack was the result of a year-long operation that had deeply penetrated Aeroflot's network, destroyed 7,000 servers and gained control over the personal computers of employers including senior managers. It did not provide evidence. It threatened to shortly start releasing 'the personal data of all Russians who have ever flown Aeroflot'. Pjotr Sauer meanwhile reports how tens of thousands of passengers have seen their travel plans thrown into chaos in recent weeks, as Ukrainian drones repeatedly disrupt Russian airspace. The systematic Ukrainian campaigns aims to bring the war home to ordinary Russians, many of whom have otherwise experienced it only from their television screens. Pjotr Sauer writes that Ukrainian civilians live under the constant threat of being killed by missiles and drones, and Ukrainian officials have emphasised that life in Russia should not be comfortable for 'a population that, by and large, continues to support the war. The tactic seems to be bearing fruit: regular airport shutdowns and missed holidays have become a major talking point among the Russian public and a growing source of frustration.' Blackouts took place in parts of Russian-occupied Donetsk during a mass attack by Ukrainian drones on Monday, according to reports. The electricity distributor Donetskenergo said three substations were hit, leaving about 160,000 customers without power. The independent Russian-run Astra Telegram channel said the Donbas Palace Hotel in Donetsk city was also hit. Ukraine's Sumy region came under Russian attack on Monday into Tuesday evening, local officials reported. A man, 45, was injured by a drone while taking a cow out to pasture in the Krasnopil community, said Oleg Grigorov, head of the Sumy regional administration. A man, 66, was injured when his apartment was shelled. 'At around 5.45pm, the Russians attacked the Burynska community with four attack UAVs. The strike destroyed a local store,' Grigorov said. 'One of the saleswomen was injured – she was promptly provided with medical assistance and her life is not in danger. Damage was also recorded to residential buildings, a cultural centre, non-residential premises and cars.' The US-German defence company Auterion will provide 33,000 artificial intelligence guidance kits for Ukrainian drones funded by a $50m Pentagon contract. According to the company, the kits enable manually piloted strike drones to autonomously track and hit targets up to a kilometre away – one way of circumventing electronic jamming that can cut a drone off from its operator. 'We have previously shipped thousands of our AI strike systems to Ukraine, but this new deployment increases our support more than tenfold,' said the CEO of Auterion, Lorenz Meier.
The Guardian
40 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Von der Leyen ducks Trump's trade blitz – but deal exposes EU's faultlines
There is no doubt that Ursula von der Leyen was under intense pressure on Sunday when she sat next to Donald Trump in the ballroom at his Turnberry golf course before what EU officials knew would be a gruelling round of trade talks. As the European Commission president emerged less than an hour later to announce that the worst of Trump's tariff threats had been avoided, the recriminations from inside the EU began almost immediately. Under the deal agreed in Scotland, an economically devastating trade war has been prevented. Still, European leaders are eyeing up the cost to the bloc from being locked in to tariffs of 15% on most EU exports to the US, when they had previously averaged 4.8%. French and German leaders, following in the footsteps of Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orbán, focused on this outcome, rather than the potential damage that could have been inflicted by a US president with an intense dislike for the EU. The French prime minister, François Bayrou, was among leaders who thought Trump's threatened 30% rate could at least be lowered to match the 10% tariff deal secured by the UK. He said the EU had capitulated and described Sunday as a 'dark day'. The irony of one leader beset by factional warring berating another for failing to present a united front to the US was lost on Bayrou. There were many in Brussels who thought he might have taken a more emollient tone given that parliamentary infighting has prevented him from passing a long-delayed budget bill. And especially when Paris is often the cause of friction inside the EU's Brussels headquarters. On this occasion, Bayrou objected to the EU threat of tariffs on US bourbon, fearing that French wine and brandy producers might be caught in the crossfire. Some insiders asked how the commission president could go nose-to-nose with Trump when the EU was, and remains, divided, with member states seeking carve-outs for their own vulnerable industries. Von der Leyen can also say that most of the trade concessions, including a commitment to buy a large quantity of gas from US producers, matter little when the purchases were likely to be made anyway. She is also hopeful that the deal can circumvent Trump's obsession with the US pharmaceutical industry. The sector has been left out of all trade deals so far, which means no one yet knows what US tariffs on pharmaceutical imports will be. Ireland is especially fearful after accumulating much of the US offshore pharma industry in County Cork. Brussels is hopeful that 15% will also be the tariff on EU-based pharma exports to the US. David Henig, the director of the UK trade policy project at the European Centre for International Political Economy, said the result of Trump's actions would probably hit trade and economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic, but only marginally. 'Nobody wins, there are unlikely to be big trade shifts, but the world keeps turning,' he said. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion HSBC economists said the 15% tariff would be offset by a reduction in uncertainty hitting businesses that had been weighing heavily on trade, leaving the EU to face 'a fairly marginal impact'. There is also much left to negotiate on a deal, which at present is more like an impressionist painting than a clearcut photograph. As the summer turns to autumn, von der Leyen must hope the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and Italy's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, refuse to join Bayrou in criticising the deal for fear of handing Trump even more negotiating power in the detailed phase. The obvious weakness in the EU's negotiating position may have the opposite effect by encouraging more leaders to consider changes put forward by the former Italian prime minister and European Central Bank chief, Mario Draghi, who estimated that internal trade barriers within the bloc amount to almost 50% on goods and 110% on services. Draghi's call for a collective endeavour on both investment and regulation is the best blueprint for leaders who know that pursuing sectional national interests is economically and socially illiterate. The problem is that von der Leyen's trade fudge – minimising the impact of Trump's threats – will allow the EU to continue muddling through, and leave Draghi's report to gather more dust.
