25-05-2025
In the trade war over tomatoes, Trump rightly stands with American farmers
Two recent actions by the Trump administration to protect American farmers clearly demonstrate why stronger enforcement of our trade agreements is long overdue.
The Trump administration, led by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, secured a deal requiring Mexico to release water from the Rio Grande to South Texas. For years, Mexico has repeatedly violated the 1944 Water Treaty by failing to uphold its end of the agreement, devastating South Texas agriculture, eliminating jobs and decimating rural economies throughout the region.
Similarly, on April 14, the Department of Commerce announced it would terminate the U.S.-Mexico Tomato Suspension Agreement. This decisive action was required under U.S. trade law and necessary to protect American tomato growers from the long-term effects of Mexican exporters flooding the market with tomatoes at prices that undercut American farmers and devastated the U.S. industry.
As the department stated, the current agreement 'has failed to protect U.S. tomato growers from unfairly priced Mexican imports.' Starting July 14, a 17% duty will be added to most tomatoes coming from Mexico.
These two decisions share a common theme. First, Mexico violated an agreement and broke its obligations. Second, American farmers bore the brunt of those broken agreements. In both instances, the Trump administration stepped in to protect American farmers. Those decisions weren't about politics. They were about fairness and accountability.
Since 1996, the U.S. has tried five separate suspension agreements with Mexico to stop unfair tomato pricing. Every one of them has failed. While American farmers followed the rules, Mexican competitors skirted them — routinely selling tomatoes far below the agreed-upon price.
The damage to American growers is undeniable. Since 1994, Mexican tomato imports have surged nearly 400%, making up 70% of the U.S. market. Over the same period, U.S. producers' share plummeted from 80% to just 30%. The result? Family farm closures, job losses and entire agricultural communities left behind.
If we keep looking the other way, we risk losing the backbone of American agriculture.
Critics claim that terminating the agreement could hurt trade and U.S. jobs. That's nonsense. Mexico can — and should — continue selling tomatoes in the U.S., but it must do so at fair, legal prices.
Speculation that consumer prices will be impacted doesn't reflect what happened in previous instances of terminating the agreement. In fact, when the agreement was terminated as recently as 2019, consumer prices did not change.
Nor is this about blocking trade. It's about enforcing trade laws and ensuring a level playing field. American farmers shouldn't be driven out of business by cheating. Consumers will still find a wide variety of tomatoes in their grocery store, only now from a marketplace that's no longer rigged against American growers.
If we held Mexico accountable for violating a water treaty, why should our response be any different when it comes to enforcing laws against tomato dumping? To act on one and not the other is a double standard our farmers can't afford.
Let's call it what it is. When Mexico breaks a water treaty, we demand accountability — and rightly so. But when they break trade laws and dump cheap tomatoes into our market, why is it suddenly controversial to enforce the rules? That's inconsistent and indefensible.
If you're going to throw stones, make sure you're not standing inside a glass greenhouse full of unfair trade.
Terminating the Tomato Suspension Agreement isn't just justified — it's essential. It's a necessary step to defend American farmers, uphold the law and bring some long-overdue integrity to our trade system.
Robert Guenther is the executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Trump stands with American farmers in the tomato trade war | Opinion
