A bipartisan group of lawmakers is asking the Commerce secretary to reverse his decision to withdraw from a 2019 agreement that had suspended an investigation into Mexican tomato imports.
At the heart of the debate is the suspension of an investigation the U.S. opened to determine whether Mexico unfairly dumped fresh tomatoes onto the U.S. market. Florida growers have for years complained that Mexico engaged in unfair trade of cheaper tomatoes.
The Department of Commerce sided with those growers and is set to impose a high tariff on Mexican tomatoes in July.
In the recent letter, Sen. Mark Kelly and other members of Congress said the U.S. relies on imported vegetables. And they argued that a tariff on Mexico will cost jobs in the U.S. supply chain.
In its decision, the Department of Commerce had stated that the current agreement failed to protect U.S. tomato growers from unfairly priced Mexican imports and that the department was flooded with comments from them urging its termination.
Members of Congress questioned the veracity of that claim, asking that the department show what steps it took to authenticate the claims.
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The move comes after a nearly yearlong ban of Mexican cattle into the United States to protect against the New World screwworm parasite.
