A decades-old dispute over tomato market prices and regulations continues to drive debate in the United States.

Last week, Arizona’s Senate President Pro Tempore Thomas “T.J.” Shope read a proclamation in support of the Tomato Suspension Agreement (TSA), meant to regulate prices of imported Mexican tomatoes. The senator is the latest in a line of defenders of the long-standing proclamation, stating that the termination would harm the state’s economy. 

“All U.S. companies importing Mexican tomatoes would be subject to a 20.91% tariff that must be paid for each shipment of tomatoes, resulting in severe economic harm to Arizona businesses, Arizona jobs, and the Arizona economy,” Shope said.

The United States and Mexico represent two of the largest players in the world’s fresh tomato trade. 

In 2022, Mexico ranked as the world’s largest tomato exporter with US$2.7 billion in value, according to data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Meanwhile, the United States claimed the top spot for tomato imports with $3 billion in value.

Division over policy's impact

While the TSA has garnered support in Arizona,  the agreement remains a contentious issue in Florida. In June 2023, the Florida Tomato Exchange filed a request with the Department of Commerce to terminate the updated 2019 Tomato Suspension Agreement, stating that it has “failed to stop unfairly traded Mexican tomatoes from destroying the U.S. tomato industry.”

Months after the Florida request, Arizona State University published a study highlighting the economic costs of eliminating Mexican tomato imports to the United States market. According to the report, scratching the agreement would have consequences for the economies of both Arizona and Texas. 

The support in favor of the agreement from Arizona has come from a wide range of state senators, businesses and organizations, including Arizona’s U.S. Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly. 

“Friends, if you enjoy salsa, maybe a tomato on your cheeseburger like I do, this is a very important thing,” Senator Shope said. “We hope and encourage the Department of Commerce to do the right thing by continuing these agreements that have existed for decades.”

The TSA first took effect on Nov. 1, 1996 and was updated Sept.19, 2019. It applies to all fresh and chilled tomatoes, except tomatoes for processing.