Mexican producers urged the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) to discuss the tomato suspension agreement on May 7, that is, before the application of a 17.56 percent tax on imports.
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On May 9, the commissioners will vote to decide if they continue with the agreement or if the US tomato market will operate freely for the first time in 22 years.
However, this vote will take place two days after the 90-day deadline that began to run on February 7, when the US Department of Commerce notified its intention of getting out of the agreement that stopped the anti-dumping investigation against exports to that country since 1996.
"This could interrupt the Sunset process that would prevent the ITC from granting its final determination in the absence of an agreement," the producers said after attending the organization for a hearing on Thursday, March 21, in Washington, DC.
There, the representatives of the Mexican Association of Protected Horticulture (AMHPAC), the Confederation of Agricultural Associations of the State of Sinaloa (CAADES), the Agricultural Council of Baja California (CABC), the National Tomato Product System (SPTN) and the Association of Producers of Yaqui-Mayo Vegetables (APHYM) presented their arguments to strengthen their position as exporters to that country.
They said that if they managed to prevail before the ITC it would mean that the arguments presented do not justify the existence of the investigation and Mexico could continue exporting tomatoes without obstacles and without the payment of anti-dumping duties that the Florida producers seek to impose.
"Our interest is to have a negotiation, like the one we had five years ago, that allows us to maintain the anti-dumping suspension agreement," stated Mario Robles, the director of the Vegetables Division of the CAADES.
This, he said, would prevent the Mexican agricultural sector from being affected, which would have a high social impact, especially for the more than 400 thousand jobs that are generated and the thousands of families that depend on this activity.
"However, we are aware that the US government has another vision and seeks to protect a few families dedicated to tomato production in the state of Florida," he stated.
Mexican producers have been negotiating an updated agreement with the US Department of Commerce for more than a year, putting on the table five proposals with unprecedented compliance measures and rejecting a proposal from Florida that is not allowed by US law.
"We are confident that we can fix this before the deadline, but we are also ready to continue defending the Mexican tomato in all possible instances to demonstrate that our exports are not the cause of the damage that affects the producers from Florida, but that it is the product of their own inefficiency," Mario Robles added. ■