Via AgWeb:
A key deadline is set to lapse Monday that could lead to permanent U.S. tariffs on Mexican tomato imports, with costs potentially hitting American consumers when the weather turns cold later this year.
As of last week, the two sides had failed to reach an agreement to end an anti-dumping investigation over Mexican tomato imports and lift a 17.6% provisional tariff, which went into effect in May. The outcome of the investigation may now make the tariffs permanent, potentially hitting the Mexican agriculture industry as well as American supermarkets and restaurants.
But some U.S. produce farmers, backed by Florida Republican lawmakers Senator Marco Rubio and Rep. Ted Yoho, have said they favor letting the investigation and the tariffs go forward. They say Mexico, the world’s largest tomato exporter, has been unfairly undercutting American farmers on price, hurting agriculture in Florida, among other places. Mexico denies that its farmers are dumping....MUCH MORE
“I don’t think a suspension agreement is going to cure the problem,” Rep. Yoho said in a telephone interview Friday. He said the U.S. should protect local agriculture jobs, even if it means consumers pay a bit more for their produce.
Uneasy Detente...
*This year's food fight in Buñol is scheduled for August 28 and tickets are still available.
"...At around 11am many trucks haul the bounty of tomatoes into the centre of the town, Plaza del Pueblo. The tomatoes come from Extremadura, where they are less expensive. Technically the festival does not begin until one brave soul has climbed to the top of a two-story high, greased-up wooden pole and reached the coveted ham at the top. In practice this process takes a long time and the festival starts despite no one reaching the meaty prize...."
