• KEY DATE: The newly resumed US antidumping investigation into fresh tomatoes from Mexico could be coming to an end on December 4 when the US International Trade Commission (USITC) is expected to publish its final injury determination and set a key moment in US/Mexico tomato trade.
• FLORIDA: Despite an active suspension agreement, the Florida Tomato Exchange, (the long time nemesis of many Mexican growers) demanded the Trump Administration to reinitiate the investigation (pending since 1996) despite a new suspension agreement that regulates price and exports.
• TASTE: “A vine-ripened tomato grown in protected environments just tastes better than an open-field mature green tomato gassed to become red”, says Lance Jungmeyer, The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA), a key distributor that supports the Mexican growers.
• REAL VALUE: Around half of Mexico’s tomatoes production (around around 1.7 million metric tons) worth 2 billion is exported to the US according to officials from Mexico’s Economy Ministry; US distributor Jungmeyer argued that lack of investment by US growers to actually compete with the Mexican varieties.
