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TOMATO GROWERS SEEK IMPORT TARIFFS

WASHINGTON (FNS) -- Florida tomato growers have asked the federal government to levy punitive tariffs against Mexican tomatoes, arguing that Mexican growers are flooding the United States with volumes of below-market-priced products.In asking the International Trade Commission for relief, Florida growers are acting on a long-simmering complaint about their only rival for winter and spring tomato sales

WASHINGTON (FNS) -- Florida tomato growers have asked the federal government to levy punitive tariffs against Mexican tomatoes, arguing that Mexican growers are flooding the United States with volumes of below-market-priced products.

In asking the International Trade Commission for relief, Florida growers are acting on a long-simmering complaint about their only rival for winter and spring tomato sales in the United States.

Florida growers said Mexico's economic crisis, which devalued the peso by more than 60%, has spurred Mexican growers to exceed their seasonal tomato shipments to the United States, adding to their advantages of lower wage and production costs.

The increase in shipments lowered the wholesale prices on a 25-pound box of tomatoes in mid-February to $4 from $14, said Wayne Hawkins, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange, Orlando.

"They're giving them away," Hawkins said. "The Florida tomato industry won't be around very long if quick action is not taken to stem the flow of tomatoes into the United States."

Hawkins also said the price of Mexican tomato shipments began increasing going into March, eventually returning to the $14 per box level. But since there are two months left in the spring tomato season, he expects import volume to peak again.

"We're bracing for it," he said. Hawkins estimated Florida growers this season have lost "millions of dollars" due to the onslaught of Mexican tomatoes.

How the increase in Mexican imports has affected U.S. retail prices is difficult to discern, since this year's Florida crop is below last year's, and the peak of Mexican shipments in February has now subsided. But should Florida growers succeed in their ITC petition, then prices at retail would likely increase, according to tomato market watchers.

The Mexican tomato growers and importers who oppose the Florida growers' petition argued that the surge in Mexican imports was not prompted by the peso devaluation, but rather by normal cycles of supply and demand.

"It's a weather-related thing each year," said Bob Hathaway, executive vice president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, Nogales, Ariz., representing importers of Mexican produce. "It's competition."

The ITC is expected to decide by mid-April whether to levy temporary duties on Mexican tomato imports, pending a full hearing on the Florida growers' petition. A final decision is expected this fall.