The United States has announced new antidumping duties on most fresh tomato imports from Mexico. The US Commerce Department said the new duty will be 17.09%. This move comes after the US decided to end a 2019 agreement that had stopped these charges in the past.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick explained that American farmers have suffered for years because of cheap tomato imports from Mexico. He said, “Mexico is one of our best allies, but for too long, our farmers have been crushed by unfair trade practices. That stops today.” He also mentioned that this decision follows former President Donald Trump’s strict trade policies with Mexico.

Mexico is the main supplier of fresh tomatoes to the US. The US government believes that Mexico was selling tomatoes at unfairly low prices, which hurt American farmers. In April, the US had already announced it would leave the old tomato agreement to help local growers compete fairly. Experts are worried that these new duties might cause tomato prices in the US to rise. Higher prices could affect both sellers and consumers.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said the government is working closely with tomato producers to reduce the impact of this new duty. However, she did not share detailed plans. Other Mexican officials called the new tariff “unfair” and warned that it could also harm US businesses. They said it goes against the interests of both Mexican producers and American companies.

This new decision adds to growing trade tensions. Earlier this year, Trump introduced higher tariffs on many goods from Mexico and other trading partners. After returning to the White House in January, he set a 25% tariff on Mexican products, but he later excluded items covered under the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement.

Recently, he also threatened to increase this tariff to 30% on August 1 to push for new trade negotiations.Mexico’s economy is highly dependent on trade with the US. Around 80% of its exports go to the US, making America its biggest trading partner.