U.S. Department of Commerce Announces Withdrawal from 2019 Suspension Agreement on Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 14, 2025
Contact: Office of Public Affairs
Email: publicaffairs@trade.gov
Phone: 202-482-3809

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced it is withdrawing from and terminating the 2019 Agreement Suspending the Antidumping Duty Investigation on Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico (the 2019 Agreement). Commerce is withdrawing under Section XI.B of the 2019 Agreement which explicitly allows Commerce to take such an action with 90-days’ written notice.

Now that the 2019 Agreement is terminated, Commerce is issuing an antidumping duty order, resulting in duties of 17.09 percent on most imports of tomatoes from Mexico. Antidumping duties are calculated to measure the percentage by which Mexican tomatoes have been sold in the United States at unfair prices.

“Mexico remains one of our greatest allies, but for far too long our farmers have been crushed by unfair trade practices that undercut pricing on produce like tomatoes. That ends today,” said Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. “This rule change is in line with President Trump’s trade policies and approach with Mexico.”  

Commerce’s Enforcement and Compliance unit within the International Trade Administration is responsible for rigorously enforcing U.S. trade laws and does so based on factual evidence provided on the record. Commerce currently maintains 768 antidumping and countervailing duty orders which provide relief to American companies and workers impacted by unfair trade practices.

Antidumping and countervailing duty orders provide a critical tool for U.S. industries to seek relief from the harmful effects of the unfairly priced imports, including where foreign companies sell goods in the U.S. market below production costs or below prices in their home markets.

BACKGROUND 
The domestic fresh tomatoes industry petitioned for relief on March 29, 1996 because it claimed it was being materially injured by dumped Mexican imports. Over the last 27 years, there have been five suspension agreements (1996, 2002, 2008, 2013, and 2019). The 2019 Agreement was entered into under Section 734(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, pursuant to which it must “eliminate the injurious effect of Mexican tomato imports.” The Mexican signatories agreed to abide by the terms of the 2019 Agreement, including to sell at or above certain minimum selling prices and to eliminate at least 85 percent of the dumping found in the underlying investigation on each entry of tomatoes. The 2019 Agreement contained a duration section (Section XI) which allows Commerce, an individual Signatory, or the collective Signatories, to withdraw from the 2019 Agreement with 90-days’ notice. Commerce and the Mexican Signatories have used this provision previously to initiate a withdrawal from and termination of past suspension agreements.