US: The latest on the Tomato Suspension Agreement

On June 16, the Florida Tomato Exchange (FTE) filed a request with the Department of Commerce to terminate the Tomato Suspension Agreement. This request was based on established facts and U.S. anti-dumping law. Days later, the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA), a trade group that represents importers of Mexican produce, issued a press release on the issue. In the release, the FPAA didn’t make a single legal argument. In 2019, the Mexican industry and FPAA went to court to prove that Mexican tomatoes weren’t being dumped and weren’t materially injuring the U.S. tomato industry. They lost the case on both counts before the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission. It was determined that Mexican tomatoes were being dumped at an average margin of 20.91 percent, even with the previous suspension agreements in place. The current suspension agreement suspends those margins from going into effect as anti-dumping duties. Such agreements allow the ...