If the United States imposes tariffs of 20.91 percent on Mexican tomatoes on July 14, up to 500,000 direct jobs in this sector could be jeopardized, warned Germán Gándara, president of the Mexican Association of Tomato Producers (AMPAC).
He explained to the media that this figure is due to the jobs the industry directly generates nationwide, as work is done year-round in different states to produce 3.6 million tons of this vegetable annually.
“Tomato exports are worth $2.7 billion, and the supply of this Mexican fruit represents up to 75 percent of the red tomatoes consumed in the United States, depending on the season.”
“There are actually several seasons, although the most important areas are the Western Hemisphere, Bajío, Baja California, Sonora, and Sinaloa, so the product is actually produced 365 days a year,” he stated. He mentioned that the U.S. Department of Commerce’s decision to express its intention to withdraw from the 2019 Suspension Agreement on fresh Mexican tomatoes took them by surprise because they were in Washington, D.C., last week.
“We were in Washington, and the department didn’t communicate anything to us, so it’s even more surprising since we were meeting with the same person who notified us of their intention to withdraw from the agreement (…) so we don’t yet know their intentions behind this or if they are seeking a renegotiation of the agreement,” he revealed.
Given this situation, he commented that they are trying to establish rapprochement to better understand the news and how they will approach the negotiations, and are therefore already in talks with the Mexican government.
Source: milenio
