Commerce Department Commits to Strong Enforcement of U.S. Unfair Trade Law Washington, D.C. (FTE) – After 23 years of suspension agreements that never worked to protect American tomato growers from injurious dumping of Mexican tomatoes, the Mexican tomato industry agreed to a strong new suspension agreement, which U.S. growers support. The agreement establishes unprecedented measures and enforcement provisions that will …
U.S. Department of Commerce Announces a New Draft Suspension Agreement on Fresh Tomatoes from Mexico
WASHINGTON, D.C. (USDOC) — The U.S. Department of Commerce initialed a draft agreement with Mexican tomato growers to suspend the ongoing antidumping (AD) investigation of fresh tomatoes from Mexico, ensuring that the domestic tomato industry will be protected from unfair trade. “For many years, there have been disputes over the roughly $2 billion worth of tomatoes that are imported from …
UF/IFAS Researchers Close in on a Tastier Tomato
GAINESVILLE, FL (UF/IFAS) — In their quest for a tastier tomato, University of Florida scientists are finding traits they believe will tempt consumers with flavor that triggers their senses even more. They’re making significant progress on improving the UF-developed Tasti-Lee™ tomato – and it will feature improved flavor and aroma. “Modern tomato cultivars typically have poor flavor as compared to …
Florida Tomato Exchange: ‘Mexican Tomato Growers Resort to Blackmail’
Mexican tomato growers and the Mexican government are trying to blackmail the U.S. government into backing down on President Trump’s commitment to strong and aggressive enforcement of U.S unfair trade law. They claim the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) isn’t negotiating fairly in talks for a new Tomato Suspension Agreement, and that they are being forced into an unreasonable agreement. …
DOC Announces Preliminary Dumping Margin on Mexican Tomato Imports
Department of Commerce Refutes Mexican Claims of No Dumping:Announces Preliminary Dumping Margin of 25% on Mexican Tomato Imports (FTE) — On July 24, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) announced that Mexican tomatoes are being dumped in the United States. The preliminary average dumping margin is 25.28 percent. This announcement refutes the recent Mexican claims that the data they submitted …
VSC Expo Speaker Spotlight: Ozgur Batuman
By Ashley Robinson Florida’s tomato growers seeking the latest information on tomato viruses will not want to miss this year’s Vegetable and Specialty Crop Expo (VSC Expo) seminar program. Ozgur Batuman, an assistant professor of plant pathology at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, will be speaking about tomato brown rugose fruit virus. This newly reported …
Controlling Purple Nutsedge in Tomatoes
Purple nutsedge can be a tough nut to crack for many tomato growers. Nathan Boyd, weed scientist at the University of Florida’s Gulf Coast Research and Education Center (GCREC), recently completed herbicide trials examining whether pre-emergent or post-emergent herbicides work better in controlling purple nutsedge in tomatoes. The trials took place at the GCREC in Wimauma. Purple nutsedge can be …
Florida Tomato Exchange: Mexican Growers Should Not Prejudge Antidumping Investigation
The allegation by Mexican tomato growers that Florida politicians are pressuring the Commerce Department to “prejudge” the antidumping investigation of Mexican tomatoes is a fabrication and a clear example of “the pot calling the kettle black.” In a press release last week, the Mexican growers announced that their recently submitted data to the Commerce Department confirms they are not dumping …
Mexican Senator Misinformed on Antidumping Investigation
In a recent letter to the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways & Means Committee, Mexican Senator Gustavo Madero made some confusing and misleading statements. Senator Madero states that the termination of the Tomato Suspension Agreement was “due to the demands of some Florida farmers and their representatives in Congress.” In fact, the …
Tomato Bacterial Spot Management Begins with Transplant Health
By Gary Vallad Few diseases present a persistent year-to-year challenge to tomato production like bacterial spot. Under ideal conditions, the disease can cause massive defoliation leading to yield losses through lost photosynthetic capacity and fruit exposure to the elements. This increases sunscald and raincheck as well as direct fruit infection by the pathogen. DISEASE SPREAD AND SYMPTOMS Xanthomonas perforans is …