U.S. Producers Exploiting Elections to Impose Duties on Mexican Tomatoes, says Mexican Official
The tomato agreement between the U.S. and Mexico has procedures to resolve differences between the two countries, but Florida tomato growers are “taking advantage of the electoral situation in the United States” by pressing for early termination of the agreement, said Mexican Under Secretary for International Trade Francisco de Rosenweig.
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The suspension agreement, which defers a 1996 International Trade Administration antidumping duty investigation of tomatoes from Mexico, has over a period of sixteen years allowed an orderly tomato trade that has benefitted Mexico, the U.S., and U.S. consumers, de Rosenweig said. Mexico is the principal provider of tomatoes in the U.S., with half of all tomatoes consumed in the U.S. imported from Mexico. Last year, tomato exports from Mexico to the U.S. totaled almost $2 billion, de Rosenweig said. The suspension agreement has been renewed twice, in 2002 and 2008, and is up for renewal in December 2012.
In an unusual move, the International Trade Administration wants to finish its changed circumstances review to determine whether to renew the agreement in only 45 days, de Rosenweig said. The normal timeframe is 270 days. As such, the Mexican federal government is working closely with tomato producers, state governments, and the Secretary of Agriculture, among others. De Rosenweig expects the ITA to issue its preliminary results in the next few weeks.
Mexico submitted comments Sept. 4 in response to the ITA’s initiation of the changed circumstances review. The comments opposed the request by U.S. tomato producers to terminate the agreement because termination could restart the controversies over Mexican tomato exports seen in the 1980s and 1990s, de Rosenweig said. The ITA is currently reviewing the comments. According to de Rosenweig, the ITA received one comment in favor of termination of the agreement from Florida tomato producers, and nine opposed to early termination.
The Mexican Government respects the principles of sovereignty and self-determination, but it also expresses its total opposition to the adoption of any trade-restricting measures, de Rosenweig said. “We strongly believe in the virtues of free trade and reject any protectionist measures.”