
Amid Cinco de Mayo celebrations, a tax on Mexican tomatoes looms
Guacamole has been spared from tariffs for now. But salsa may not be so lucky.
While threatened tariffs on Mexican avocados have been put on pause, the U.S. government plans to put a nearly 21% duty on fresh Mexican tomatoes starting July 14. A duty — like a tariff — is a tax on imports, and this one will impact the 4 billion pounds of tomatoes the U.S. imports from Mexico each year.
Proponents say the duty will help rebuild the shrinking U.S. tomato industry and ensure that produce eaten in the U.S. is also grown there. Mexico currently supplies around 70% of U.S. tomato market, up from 30% two decades ago, according to the Florida Tomato Exchange, a trade group.
'Unless we even the playing field in terms of fair pricing, you're not going to have a domestic industry for fresh tomatoes in the very near future,' said Robert Guenther, the executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange. Florida and California are the top U.S. producers of tomatoes, but most of California's crop is turned into sauces and other products.
Opponents say the duty will make fresh tomatoes more expensive for U.S. buyers. NatureSweet, a San Antonio-based company that grows tomatoes in Mexico as well as the U.S., said it will be paying millions of dollars each month in duties if the decision isn't reversed.
'We will look for ways to adapt or streamline our operations, but the truth is, we are always doing that so we run an efficient business already,' said Skip Hulett, NatureSweet's chief legal officer. 'Produce is not a large-margin business. We're determining what portion of the cost we could absorb, but these added costs will most certainly need to be passed on to the consumer.'
Tim Richards, a professor at the Morrison School of Agribusiness at Arizona State University, expects U.S. retail prices for tomatoes to rise by around 10.5% if the tariffs go through.
Mexico's government said last month it was convinced it could negotiate over the issue. But if the duty goes into effect, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum hinted that Mexico could take similar action against imported chicken and pork legs from the U.S.
The tug-of-war over tomatoes has a long history. In 1996, shortly after the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect, the U.S. Department of Commerce investigated allegations that Mexico was exporting tomatoes to the U.S. at artificially low prices, a practice known as dumping.
The U.S. government agreed to suspend the investigation if Mexico met certain rules, including selling its tomatoes at a minimum price. Since then, the agreement has been subject to periodic reviews, but the two sides have always reached an agreement that avoided duties.
But last month, the Commerce Department announced its withdrawal from the latest agreement, saying it has been 'flooded with comments' from U.S. tomato growers who want better protection from Mexican imports.
Guenther, of the Florida Tomato Exchange, said even though Mexican exporters are required to charge a minimum price, shipments are only spot-checked, so exporters can get around that. But more generally, Mexico hurts the U.S. industry because it costs 40% to 50% less to grow tomatoes there, Guenther said. Land is cheaper, labor is cheaper and inputs like seeds and fertilizer cost less, he said.
Tomatoes are a labor-intensive crop, Guenther said, and the U.S. industry typically relies on immigrant workers through the H-2A visa program. That program required farmers to pay workers an average of $16.98 per hour last year, an amount that has jumped as labor has become harder to find. Richards estimates that workers on Mexican tomato farms earn about one-tenth that rate.
NatureSweet acknowledges that it's more cost-effective to grow tomatoes in Mexico, but says climate is one of the biggest reasons. The company's Mexican greenhouses don't need lighting, heating or cooling systems because of the year-round weather conditions.
'You can relocate some industries, but you can't relocate climate agriculture,' Hulett said.
Lance Jungmeyer, the president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, which represents importers of Mexican tomatoes, said Florida doesn't produce the vine-ripened tomatoes that U.S. consumers increasingly favor. Florida tomatoes are picked when they're green and shipped to warehouses to ripen, he said.
'Florida doesn't grow the kinds of specialty tomatoes that have taken off, but they want to get protection,' Jungmeyer said. 'Their market share is dropping for reasons of their own choice.'
Guenther disagrees. 'If you put a Florida tomato up against a Mexican tomato, I think it would do very well in taste test,' he said.
Adrian Burciaga, co-owner of Don Artemio, an upscale Mexican restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas, wouldn't want to switch to a U.S. producer. He compares it to fine wine; if he wants a good cabernet sauvignon, he gets it from Napa, California, but if he wants a good tomato that remind him of his childhood, he gets it from Mexico.
'We know the flavors they are going to bring to the salsas and moles. We don't want to compromise flavors,' Burciaga said.
Burciaga said his restaurant uses 300 to 400 pounds of Roma tomatoes from Mexico every week. He currently pays $19 for a 25-pound crate of tomatoes. He doesn't relish paying the additional cost, but he feels he has no choice.
Burciaga said the tomato duty and the threat of other tariffs against Mexico – which were put in place in February but then paused – are making it difficult to run his business.
'The uncertainty part concerns us. A small or medium restaurant budgets things out. We know in advance that in six months things will increase, so we're able to adjust,' he said. 'But we don't know these things in advance. How do you plan and how do you react?'
___
AP Reporter Maria Verza in Mexico City contributed.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Axios
25 minutes ago
- Axios
Exclusive: Crypto security startup Hypernative raises $40M
Hypernative, a provider of real-time threat prevention for crypto companies, raised $40 million in Series B funding, its founders tell Axios exclusively. Why it matters: Security remains a major barrier to mass adoption of crypto, which is plagued by increasingly sophisticated hacks and exploits. How it works: Hypernative's technology monitors blockchain transactions to detect and respond to potential threats before they happen. "We know how to classify that preparation and then essentially front-run their attacks before they're actually triggering it," Hypernative CTO Dan Caspi explains. Its platform identifies patterns of on-chain preparations that attackers typically make before launching an exploit. Using AI and machine learning models, it tracks and analyzes on-chain and off-chain data sources, simulating transaction outcomes to protect users and assets in real time. State of play: The crypto security market is becoming increasingly competitive, with numerous startups offering solutions to prevent hacks, fraud and exploits. By the numbers: Israel-based Hypernative serves more than 200 customers, protecting assets totaling over $100 billion. In 2024, the platform detected over $2.2 billion in potential losses from hacks and exploits, a 22% increase from the previous year, the company says. "We've already saved huge amounts of money in real time for customers and non-customers," Hypernative CEO Gal Sagie says. Case in point:"Just yesterday, there was a protocol that was not a customer of ours, and we managed to reach out to them and saved around $10 million," he adds. Zoom out: Traditional financial institutions are increasingly becoming interested in blockchain technology, driven by regulatory clarity and institutional demand for digital assets. "With the new regulation and the new administration, we see a lot of demand from more traditional financial institutions," Sagie says. Zoom in: Ten Eleven Ventures and Ballistic Ventures led the round, which included participation from StepStone Group, Boldstart Ventures and the IBI Tech Fund.
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
More WA Rite Aid and Bartell sites added to chains' store shutdown list
Two more proposed store closure lists have been entered into the court filings of Rite Aid's bankruptcy case, and they include more Pierce County locations. The lists, released June 5 and June 6, included 25 and 207 store locations nationwide, respectively, with a combined 23 sites in Washington. The bulk are Rite Aid drugstores, except for four Bartell Drugs — one of those in Tacoma. The Seattle-based Bartell drugstore chain is a subsidiary of Rite Aid. For Pierce County, the new closure lists include: ▪ Rite Aid at 5700 100th St. SW, Suite 100, Lakewood ▪ Bartell Drugs at 3601 Sixth Ave., Tacoma ▪ Rite Aid at 12811 Meridian St. E., Puyallup ▪ Rite Aid at 21302 State Route 410 E., Bonney Lake In Thurston County, the June 6 list included the Rite Aid at 305 Cooper Point Road NW. Other Washington locations on the new lists include: ▪ Rite Aid, 2131 SW 336th St., Federal Way ▪ Rite Aid, 10407 SE 256th St., Kent ▪ Rite Aid, 3116 NE Sunset Boulevard, Renton ▪ Rite Aid, 17615 140th Ave. SE, Renton ▪ Rite Aid, 7500-A 196th St. SW Lynnwood ▪ Rite Aid, 2860 NW Bucklin Hill Road, Silverdale ▪ Rite Aid, 11700 Muilteo Speedway No. 500, Mukilteo ▪ Bartell Drugs, 2222 32nd Ave. W., Seattle ▪ Rite Aid, 4514 S. Regal St., Spokane ▪ Rite Aid, 19475 7th Ave. NE, Poulsbo ▪ Rite Aid, 1901 N. Steptoe St., Kennewick ▪ Bartell Drugs, 419 NE 71st. St., Seattle ▪ Rite Aid, 1065 NW Gilman Blvd., Issaquah ▪ Bartell Drugs, 11020 19th Ave. SE, Everett ▪ Rite Aid, 364 Triangle Shopping Center, Longview ▪ Rite Aid, 3227 Northwest Ave., Bellingham ▪ Rite Aid, 1329 Lee Blvd., Richland ▪ Rite Aid, 12420 N. Division St., Spokane Rite Aid is closing hundreds of stores nationwide amid its latest bankruptcy. CVS Pharmacy has agreed to acquire the prescription files of 625 Rite Aid pharmacies across 15 states, as well as acquire 64 Rite Aid stores in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Other stores that remain on Rite Aid's website as open in Pierce County include two stores in Tacoma (1912 N. Pearl St. and 7041 Pacific Ave.) a store in Spanaway and three locations in Puyallup. Bartell is set to have one Pierce County site remaining, in Gig Harbor. With the new filings, the Washington stores slated for closure now total nearly 50. No dates have been announced for when the stores will shutter. Oregon had several additional stores listed for closure, and Idaho had one. See previous coverage for earlier closure lists.
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Nonprofit that operates group homes for homeless youth plans Tacoma expansion
A Gig Harbor-based nonprofit is buying houses to provide a place for unhoused young people to get back on their feet. While their model has shown some success at a small scale, the organization is expanding with a new home in Tacoma. In 2018, Harbor Hope Center received its home through a private, anonymous donor. The center's executive director Daniel Johnson told The News Tribune the home was donated after the owner's book club read a book about alleviating poverty. The book club learned in 2018 roughly 150 students in Gig Harbor were couch surfing without a permanent place to live. At the time, Harbor Hope Center was a new organization aimed at breaking the cycle of homelessness among youth and young adults. With the first home, its model was realized. Johnson told The News Tribune there is a 'thin line' between being housed and homeless, especially for youth and young adults. 'Homelessness starts somewhere early,' he said. 'And it can happen to any young person that doesn't have family support.' Harbor Hope's goal is to provide that support. Shortly after getting the first home, the organization acquired a second home in the same neighborhood with funding from the Washington State Department of Commerce's Housing Trust Fund. The second home was acquired for about $265,000. The two houses now serve as group homes for up to 12 people between the ages of 18 and 24. While staying at the home, they receive mentorship, life-skills coaching and therapy with the goal of finding permanent housing and self-sustainability. Brandon Vuylsteke, the operations manager for the homes, said residents receive one-on-one case management from staff customized to the client. They participate in career- and life-skills workshops and substance-abuse therapy if necessary. Harbor Hope also offers transportation to get clients to school, work or appointments. Johnson said it is through early intervention that the organization aims to prevent young people from entering a cycle of chronic homelessness. 'We get someone living on a couch to never be on a couch again,' he said. According to Harbor Hope Center, its program has served 135 young people and has helped 95 into permanent supportive housing. Those who are not referred into permanent supportive housing often are reunited with family or referred into other programs. Johnson said people usually stay at the group homes between three and five months before finding a more permanent housing solution. Vuylsteke said young people usually stay an average of 90 days. According to him, the broad majority of people exit the group homes after receiving a referral into Pierce County's Rapid-Rehousing program. 'People are here because they are trying,' Johnson said. Vuylsteke told The News Tribune the organization is looking to expand both its connections with community organizations who can refer Harbor Hope Center new clients. Recently, it has been working with Coffee Oasis, a homeless youth-assisting nonprofit with locations in Tacoma, Port Orchard and Bremerton. They also work with local school districts such as the Peninsula School District and Tacoma Public Schools. Tacoma Public Schools is recognized to have one of the highest populations of housing insecure students in the state. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is a federal law to protect students experiencing housing instability, and it ensures that homeless children and youth have access to a public education. The McKinney-Vento Act defines homeless children as 'individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.' According to Tacoma Public Schools spokesperson Kathryn McCarthy, the district served 2,685 students through McKinney-Vento programming during the 2023-2024 school year. Of those, 414 were considered 'unaccompanied youth.' McCarthy told The News Tribune the district recorded 2,389 students who were experiencing homelessness or considered 'unaccompanied youth' during the 2024-2025 school year. Additionally, she said there are 202 students in foster care. Johnson said Harbor Hope Center is beginning its expansion into Tacoma and is close to closing a deal on a house in the city which will serve as another six-person group home. Johnson said the organization has received generous community support towards its existing group homes, with an estimated $50,000 to $60,000 in contributions. He told The News Tribune a local church volunteered to repair and paint a backyard fence and local Home Depot stores contributed materials and labor to completely rebuild the deck at one of the houses. 'Our goal is to have the nicest house in the neighborhood,' he said.