Rice Business Report September 2019 September 2019 Rice Business Report | Page 28

Rice Business Report September 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
News Media Contact:
Office of Public Affairs, 202-482-4883
U.S. Department of Commerce Announces a New Draft Suspension Agreement on Fresh Tomatoes from
Mexico
WASHINGTON – Last night, the U.S. Department of Commerce initialed a draft agreement with Mexican
tomato growers to suspend the ongoing antidumping (AD) investigation of fresh tomatoes from Mexico,
ensuring that the domestic tomato industry will be protected from unfair trade.
“For many years, there have been disputes over the roughly $2 billion worth of tomatoes that are import-
ed from Mexico annually. These disputes led the Department to terminate an earlier suspension agree-
ment and continue an investigation that could have led to duties of 25 percent for most Mexican tomato
producers. After intensive discussions with all parties, we initialed a new draft suspension agreement
with the Mexican growers late last night. This draft agreement meets the needs of both sides and avoids
the need for antidumping duties,” Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said.
The draft suspension agreement has enforcement provisions that completely eliminate the injurious
effects of Mexican tomatoes, as well as price suppression and undercutting. The draft agreement sets ref-
erence prices for rounds and romas at $0.31/lb., stem-on tomatoes at $0.46/lb., tomatoes on the vine at
$0.50/lb., specialty loose tomatoes at $0.49/lb., and specialty packed tomatoes at $0.59/lb., with organic
tomatoes priced 40% higher than non-organics. The draft agreement also closes loopholes from past sus-
pension agreements that permitted sales below the reference prices, and includes a brand-new inspec-
tion mechanism to prevent the importation of low-quality, poor-condition tomatoes from Mexico, which
can have price suppressive effects in the market. In addition, the draft agreement allows the Department
to audit up to 80 Mexican tomato producers per quarter, or more with good cause.
The statute requires a 30-day notice period after today’s initialing of the draft agreement. At that point,
on September 19, Commerce and the Mexican growers could sign a final agreement. If this occurs, Com-
merce will suspend the ongoing AD investigation without issuing a final determination
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