The tomato tariffs are among the latest examples of President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff policy, which has shaken up global trade, left companies uncertain how to plan for the future, and made Americans nervous about where the world’s biggest economy could be headed.
Field-grown tomatoes cost US shoppers about $1.70 per pound as of May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer tomato prices could rise by about 10% and demand may fall by 5% as a result of these tariffs, according to Timothy Richards, a professor of agribusiness at Arizona State University.
The United States is the top market for Mexican tomato exports, according to the US Department of Agriculture. In a June report, the department found that the new tariffs would likely lead to a drop in tomato imports and higher prices.
Some US growers say it’s about time for the tariffs, which are meant to fight “dumping,” or the practice of selling cheap exports into a foreign market to undercut homegrown products.
The Tomato Suspension Agreement has been in place since 1996, essentially setting a floor for tomato imports. The Commerce Department announced in April it was withdrawing from the agreement because the “current agreement has failed to protect U.S. tomato growers from unfairly priced Mexican imports,” according to a statement. That, in turn, will result in the 20.9% duties on most Mexican tomato imports.
“For more than three decades, five consecutive agreements have failed to stop the illegal dumping of unfairly priced tomatoes into the U.S. market from Mexican producers,” Robert Guenther, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange, told CNN in a statement. Guenther added that he believes the trade agreement has harmed American farmers.
It’s an accusation disputed by Walberto Solorio, a Mexican tomato grower and president of the Baja California Agricultural Council, which represents more than 120 tomato growers.
Solorio told a CNN producer that small violations by some Mexican producers have not been enough to warrant the collapse of the entire agreement.
“I see it as more of a political issue than a commercial one, not logic or numbers,” Solario said. “Everything indicates, within reason, that the agreement should prevail and that the agreement has been fulfilled.”
Consumers and businesses may feel the pinch.
