Planned tax would raise prices at the grocery store, cost American jobs
PHOENIX – Today, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) demanded the Trump administration reverse its recently announced decision to withdraw from the 2019 Tomato Suspension Agreement. Withdrawing from the agreement would effectively place a 21 percent tax on tomato imports from Mexico. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Senator Gallego lays out the detrimental effect this would have on hardworking families.
“The result of terminating this agreement will be higher prices for American families, fewer options at the grocery store, and fewer American jobs. Indeed, studies show that families could see a tomato prices rise by an average of 50% if your Department does not reverse course,” Senator Gallego wrote.
He continues, “extremely importantly for Arizona border communities, the tomato supply chain from Mexico supports 33,000 American jobs, including grocers, truckers, and restaurants, warehouse operators, and others who move fresh tomatoes from the Nogales Port to American consumers. The termination of this agreement puts these good-paying jobs at risk.”
Full text of the letter can be read HERE.
This is not the first time Senator Gallego has spoken out about the importance of the Tomato Suspension Agreement. In December 2023 he penned in op-ed for the Arizona Daily Star entitled Arizona can’t afford a new ‘tomato tax’.
4/16/25