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Atlantic
24-07-2025
- Business
- Atlantic
Tomato Season Is Different This Year
Every summer, there is a brief window—call it August—when the produce is exquisite. The cherries are at their best, as are the peaches, plums, and nectarines. The watermelon is sweet. The eggplants are glossy. The corn is pristine. And the tomatoes! The tomatoes are unparalleled. There's a reason tomatoes are synonymous with summer, staple of home gardens and farmers' markets alike. Giant, honking beefsteaks and sprightly Sungolds are begging to be transformed into salads and gazpachos, tossed with pasta and sliced into sandwiches, or eaten raw by the fistful. Enjoy them while you can. Come fall, tomato season will be over just as quickly as it began. Yes, you can obtain sliceable red orbs in virtually any supermarket, at any time of year, anywhere in the United States. But they are pale imitations of dripping August heirlooms. Out-of-season tomatoes—notoriously pale, mealy, and bland—tend to be tomatoes in name only. They can be serviceable, dutifully filling out a Greek salad; they can valiantly garnish a taco and add heft to a grilled-cheese sandwich. At the very least, they contribute general wetness and a sense of virtue to a meal. Flavor? Not so much. This year, of all years, it's worth indulging in the bounties of high tomato season. The bloodless tomatoes waiting for us in the fall are mostly imported from Mexico, and as with so many other goods these days, they are now stuck in the middle of President Donald Trump's trade war. This week, the White House imposed 17 percent tariffs on Mexican tomatoes. In all likelihood, that will mean higher prices for grocery-store tomatoes, Tim Richards, an agricultural economist at Arizona State University, told me. This will not make them better in terms of color, texture, or flavor—but it will make them cost more. Grumbling about grim winter tomatoes is a long-standing national hobby, and at the same time, their existence is a small miracle. You can eat a BLT in the snow or a Caprese salad for Valentine's Day with no effort at all. In August 1943, before Americans could get fresh tomatoes year-round, New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia encouraged housewives to brace for winter by canning as many tomatoes as they could. 'They are in your city's markets and I want to see every woman can them while they are at this low price,' he announced. They wouldn't have to do it for long. By the 1960s, 'just about every supermarket and corner store in America was selling Florida tomatoes from October to June,' the author William Alexander wrote in Ten Tomatoes That Changed the World. They were visually perfect but tasted like Styrofoam, which is in many ways what they were supposed to be: durable, pest-resistant, long-lasting, and cheap. Tomatoes are famously fragile and quick to rot, so they are often picked while still green, and then gassed with ethylene. It turns them red, giving the appearance of ripeness but not the corresponding flavor. In recent years, the situation has somewhat improved: Instead of focusing exclusively on looks and durability, horticulturalists have turned their attention to maximizing flavor. There is another reason year-round tomatoes have improved: Mexico. 'Most of the nice-looking, really tasty tomatoes in the market are Mexican,' Richards said. That includes small varieties such as cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, and cocktail tomatoes, or, as he classified them, 'those little snacking tomatoes in the plastic things.' Mexico manages to produce this steady stream of year-round, pretty-good tomatoes by growing them primarily in greenhouses, which Richards said is the best possible way to produce North American tomatoes at scale. Even in winter, tomatoes sheltered from the elements can be left to ripen on the vine, which helps improve the taste. All of which is to say that an America without easy access to imported Mexican tomatoes looks bleak. Like all of Trump's tariffs, the point of taxing Mexican tomatoes is to help producers here in the U.S. Thirty years ago, 80 percent of the country's fresh tomatoes were grown in America. Now the share is more like 30 percent, and sliding. America could produce enough tomatoes to stock grocery stores year-round—Florida still grows a lot of them—but doing that just doesn't make a lot of sense. 'It's not cost-effective,' Luis Ribera, an agricultural economist at Texas A&M University, told me. 'We cannot supply year-round tomatoes at the prices that we have.' Unlike Mexico, Florida mainly grows its tomatoes outside, despite the fact that it is ill-suited to outdoor tomato growing in pretty much all ways: The soil is inhospitable. The humidity is an incubator for disease. There are regular hurricanes. 'From a purely botanical and horticultural perspective,' the food journalist Barry Estabrook wrote in Tomatoland, 'you would have to be an idiot to attempt to commercially grow tomatoes in a place like Florida.' Exactly what the tariffs will mean for grocery prices is hard to say. Tomatoes will be taxed when they cross the border, so importers and distributors will directly pay the costs. But eventually, the increase will likely trickle down to the supermarket. The story of tariffs, Ribera said, is that 'the lion's share is paid by consumers.' In the short term, Richards estimated that price hikes will depend a lot on the variety of tomato, with romas hardest hit. 'That's the one we rely on most from Mexico,' he said. Beefsteaks, he added, will face a smaller increase. Compared with some of the other drastic tariffs that Trump imposed, a 17 percent price bump on Mexican tomatoes hardly portends the tomato-pocalypse. Last year, the average import price of Mexican tomatoes was about 74 cents a pound. If the entire 17 percent increase is passed on to consumers, we'd be looking at an additional 13 cents—enough to notice, but not enough for a critical mass of people to forgo romas altogether. Here's the other thing: People want tomatoes, and they want them now. 'We don't want to wait for things to be in season,' Ribera said, and we aren't about to start. For all of the many problems with out-of-season tomatoes, Americans keep eating them. It was true when winter tomatoes were a novelty: 'I don't know why housewives feel they have to have tomatoes,' one baffled supplier told The New York Times in 1954. But they did, and people still do. Season to season, our national tomato consumption fluctuates relatively little, the grocery-industry analyst Phil Lempert told me. Every burger joint in America needs tomatoes—not the best tomatoes, but tomatoes that exist. There is a whole genre of recipes about how to make the most of out-of-season tomatoes. A lesser tomato, of course, is better than no tomato at all.
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Business Standard
15-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
US imposes 17% duty on Mexican tomatoes hoping to boost local production
Mexico currently supplies around 70 per ccent of the US tomato market, up from 30 per cent two decades ago, according to the Florida Tomato Exchange AP Washington The US government said Monday it is placing a 17 per cent duty on most fresh Mexican tomatoes after negotiations ended without an agreement to avert the tariff. Proponents said the import tax will help rebuild the shrinking US tomato industry and ensure that produce eaten in the US is also grown there. Mexico currently supplies around 70 per ccent of the US tomato market, up from 30 per cent two decades ago, according to the Florida Tomato Exchange. But opponents, including US companies that grow tomatoes in Mexico, said the tariff will make fresh tomatoes more expensive for US buyers. Tim Richards, a professor at the Morrison School of Agribusiness at Arizona State University, said US retail prices for tomatoes will likely rise around 8.5 per cent with a 17 per cent duty. The duty stems from a longstanding US complaint about Mexico's tomato exports and is separate from the 30 per cent base tariff on products made in Mexico and the European Union that President Donald Trump announced on Saturday. The Commerce Department said in late April that it was withdrawing from a deal it first reached with Mexico in 2019 to settle allegations the country was exporting tomatoes to the US at artificially low prices, a practice known as dumping. As part of the deal, Mexico had to sell its tomatoes at a minimum price and abide by other rules. Since then, the agreement has been subject to periodic reviews, but the two sides always reached an agreement that avoided duties. In announcing its withdrawal from the Tomato Suspension Agreement, the Commerce Department said it had been "flooded with comments" from US tomato growers who wanted better protection from Mexican goods. But others, including the US Chamber of Commerce and the National Restaurant Association, had called on the Commerce Department to reach an agreement with Mexico. In a letter sent last week to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the Chamber of Commerce and 30 other business groups said US companies employ 50,000 workers and generate $8.3 billion in economic benefits moving tomatoes from Mexico into communities across the country. "We are concerned that withdrawing from the agreement at a time when the business community is already navigating significant trade uncertainty could lead to retaliatory actions by our trading partners against other commodities and crops that could create further hardship for US businesses and consumers," the letter said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India Today
14-07-2025
- Business
- India Today
US imposes 17% tariff on Mexican tomatoes, sparking price concerns
In a move likely to heat up produce prices and trade tensions, the US government announced on Monday it is imposing a 17% tariff on most fresh Mexican tomatoes after talks with Mexico collapsed without a new decision marks the formal end of the 2019 Tomato Suspension Agreement, which had allowed tomatoes from Mexico to be imported tariff-free as long as exporters followed minimum pricing rules to avoid dumping allegations. The Commerce Department cited pressure from US growers as a key reason for the shift, saying it had been 'flooded with comments' urging stronger tariff will help rebuild the shrinking US tomato industry,' said the Florida Tomato Exchange, noting that Mexico now supplies 70% of US tomato consumption — up from 30% just 20 years ago. However, US businesses that grow tomatoes in Mexico or rely on imports warned that the new duty could drive up grocery bills and disrupt supply a letter sent last week to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the Chamber of Commerce and 30 other business groups said US companies employ 50,000 workers and generate $8.3 billion in economic benefits moving tomatoes from Mexico into communities across the country.'We are concerned that withdrawing from the agreement – at a time when the business community is already navigating significant trade uncertainty – could lead to retaliatory actions by our trading partners against other commodities and crops that could create further hardship for U.S. businesses and consumers,' the letter say the impact on consumers will be felt quickly. 'Retail prices for tomatoes in the US will likely rise around 8.5% with a 17% duty,' predicted Tim Richards, agribusiness professor at Arizona State new tariff is separate from the broader 30% base tariff on products from Mexico and the European Union that President Donald Trump announced Saturday as part of his wider trade reset agenda.- EndsInputs from Associated PressTune InMust Watch
Chicago Tribune
14-07-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
US imposes 17% duty on fresh Mexican tomatoes in hopes of boosting domestic production
The U.S. government said Monday it is placing a 17% duty on most fresh Mexican tomatoes after negotiations ended without an agreement to avert the tariff. Proponents said the import tax 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 the U.S. tomato market, up from 30% two decades ago, according to the Florida Tomato Exchange. But opponents, including U.S. companies that grow tomatoes in Mexico, said the tariff will make fresh tomatoes more expensive for U.S. buyers. Tim Richards, a professor at the Morrison School of Agribusiness at Arizona State University, said U.S. retail prices for tomatoes will likely rise around 8.5% with a 17% duty. The duty stems from a longstanding U.S. complaint about Mexico's tomato exports and is separate from the 30% base tariff on products made in Mexico and the European Union that President Donald Trump announced on Saturday. The Commerce Department said in late April that it was withdrawing from a deal it first reached with Mexico in 2019 to settle allegations the country was exporting tomatoes to the U.S. at artificially low prices, a practice known as dumping. As part of the deal, Mexico had to sell its tomatoes at a minimum price and abide by other rules. Since then, the agreement has been subject to periodic reviews, but the two sides always reached an agreement that avoided duties. In announcing its withdrawal from the Tomato Suspension Agreement, the Commerce Department said it had been 'flooded with comments' from U.S. tomato growers who wanted better protection from Mexican goods. But others, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Restaurant Association, had called on the Commerce Department to reach an agreement with Mexico. In a letter sent last week to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the Chamber of Commerce and 30 other business groups said U.S. companies employ 50,000 workers and generate $8.3 billion in economic benefits moving tomatoes from Mexico into communities across the country. 'We are concerned that withdrawing from the agreement – at a time when the business community is already navigating significant trade uncertainty – could lead to retaliatory actions by our trading partners against other commodities and crops that could create further hardship for U.S. businesses and consumers,' the letter said.
The Independent
14-07-2025
- Business
- The Independent
US imposes a 17% duty on fresh Mexican tomatoes in hopes of boosting domestic production
The U.S. government said Monday it is placing a 17% duty on most fresh Mexican tomatoes after negotiations ended without an agreement to avert the tariff. Proponents said the import tax 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 the U.S. tomato market, up from 30% two decades ago, according to the Florida Tomato Exchange. But opponents, including U.S. companies that grow tomatoes in Mexico, said the tariff will make fresh tomatoes more expensive for U.S. buyers. Tim Richards, a professor at the Morrison School of Agribusiness at Arizona State University, said U.S. retail prices for tomatoes will likely rise around 8.5% with a 17% duty. The duty stems from a longstanding U.S. complaint about Mexico's tomato exports and is separate from the 30% base tariff on products made in Mexico and the European Union that President Donald Trump announced on Saturday. The Commerce Department said in late April that it was withdrawing from a deal it first reached with Mexico in 2019 to settle allegations the country was exporting tomatoes to the U.S. at artificially low prices, a practice known as dumping. As part of the deal, Mexico had to sell its tomatoes at a minimum price and abide by other rules. Since then, the agreement has been subject to periodic reviews, but the two sides always reached an agreement that avoided duties. In announcing its withdrawal from the Tomato Suspension Agreement, the Commerce Department said it had been 'flooded with comments' from U.S. tomato growers who wanted better protection from Mexican goods. But others, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Restaurant Association, had called on the Commerce Department to reach an agreement with Mexico. In a letter sent last week to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the Chamber of Commerce and 30 other business groups said U.S. companies employ 50,000 workers and generate $8.3 billion in economic benefits moving tomatoes from Mexico into communities across the country. 'We are concerned that withdrawing from the agreement – at a time when the business community is already navigating significant trade uncertainty – could lead to retaliatory actions by our trading partners against other commodities and crops that could create further hardship for U.S. businesses and consumers,' the letter said.
