Tomatoes are set to jump in price as Trump slaps a 17% tariff on the grocery staple
Tomatoes are set to jump in price as Trump slaps a 17% tariff on the grocery staple
‘I give it three months, and then we go bankrupt,’ says one Californian restaurant owner
- Donald Trump has imposed a 17 per cent tariff on tomatoes imported from Mexico, raising concerns about increased prices for consumers and businesses.
- The tariffs took effect after the US withdrew from the nearly three-decade-old Tomato Suspension Agreement, with the Secretary of Commerce stating American farmers had been 'crushed by unfair trade practices'. The Commerce Department calculated the 17 per cent import tax to measure the percentage by which Mexican tomatoes were allegedly sold at unfair prices in the US.
- The measure is expected to result in higher costs at supermarkets and restaurants, with one Californian restaurant owner predicting bankruptcy within three months.
- Mexico, which supplies about 70 per cent of US tomatoes, has refuted claims of dumping, insisting the popularity of their produce is due to its quality, and stated that substitution would be impossible.
Just cut the tomatoes out of your burgers. Problem solved.
Good thing egg prices have dropped.
Wait...
For those that don't know for fresh market tomatoes.
Indeterminate tomato vines can be grown for years if they don't freeze.
Mexico has invested heavily in greenhouses, high tunnels and thrip-proof net-houses. These allow for year round production of tomatoes. This was done with government money.
Canada has also invested heavily in greenhouses to grow tomatoes and produce them year round. This was also done with government money.
Meanwhile the U.S. focused on open field machine harvested sauce tomatoes controlled by massive corporations. There are still some U.S. tomato growers that rely almost 100% on immigrant labor. In general they produce 1/10th the tonnage per acre at higher cost even with the cheap labor.
What manufacturing sector of the American economy doesn't focus on migrant labor?
That 17% tariff will magically turn into 200% price increases thanks to algorithmic price fixing.
A small price to pay for freedom.
Trump probably hasn't eaten a vegetable his whole life. Now if it was an increase on a KFC bucket of chicken, this would not happen.
Having worked at McDonald’s I imagine he’s one of the “no pickles, no onions, no lettuce, no tomatoes, add bacon, extra bacon, extra mayo” guys.
And no salt on the fries during rush when the fries are already fresh + multiple salt packets.
I didn't even know you could order fries that way.
Technically, he likes ketchup on his steak I thought so does that count as a vegetable?
It mainly counts as corn syrup. Have you ever had Canadian ketchup? It's so much better tasting
Out of all his war crimes, this one might be the worst
It is condiment, so no, but probably the closet to one he has ever come.
Yes, and he eats grass fed beef, it counts as vegan.
Trump doesn't pay for shit so why would he care how much food costs?
But he invented the groceries word!
anything to get people to stop talking about the epstein files, hes been doing tariffs since last week.
Is this some kind of american problem that im too european to understand? /j
Buy local, folks. I got far higher quality tomatoes at a farm stand the other day than I can find at any big box store in the US. The prices can't be beat.
That's great in the high summer, but good luck finding those locally grown tomatoes in January.
They don't seem to farm tomatoes locally where I am, but the local half-runner beans are great.
Buy local, and buy seasonal. That's just as important, because if you're shopping for avocados in Milwaukee in November, those fuckers have traveled a long way and was picked a long time ago. You might not live in a climate that has oranges or strawberries year round. Accept this and choose food that doesn't have a swollen climate footprint.
Also eat free-range billionaires. Eating one billionaire would do more good for the climate than every other change you and 300 of your friends could make.
I love me a farm fresh avocado picked ripe from the Milwaukee avocado farms every June.
Learning to eat what's seasonal is a great way to understand world cuisines better. It's advantageous when traveling...
Enjoy it while there are still pickers working on said farm.
They're family-run operations, proudly owned by generations of Latinos, in many local cases. You're talking full-on internment camps if they're to forcibly remove these legal citizens from their businesses. I'm not saying that isn't in the works but these aren't only field workers vulnerable to being terrorized. There's a vast co-op network they pull resources from. If trump is going to truly go after all production, food will cease to be available. We will see economic destruction that will make the Great Depression pale in comparison.
Are such farm stands present in cities, though?
Depends on the region. I can find about 5 on Victoria Avenue in Riverside, California alone. Farm stands are everywhere under our noses in this state and we can wind up overlooking these amenities.
In LA, back in the day, I would have been going to farmer's markets more, which are a bit more work because they have limited schedules. Still, there are brilliant places like Super King there, that have a lot of value for the money. I also miss other specialties there like sushi-grade fish mongers, etc. There are quite a lot of options in Southern California and beyond such as Latino supermarket chains like Vallartas, Cardena's and Northgate/Gonzalez Bros as well as Asian options like 99 Ranch Market.
I'm so glad I accidentally over planted tomato seeds now. I'll have to give some extras to our neighbors, we really only have a little patio to put stuff on or the apartment flips out.
My neighbors have some really good-looking Roma tomatoes out front. They've had a good crop this summer. I'll bet they taste a lot better than the ones from the grocery store, too.
You can have hydroponic cherry tomatoes indoors in 90 days.
The initial setup needs lights and aquarium air pump some rock wool tomato seeds and a couple of 5 gallon buckets and a little hydroponic fertilizer.
Right after Canada and the EU backed down on the foreign digital taxes.
My local grocery store sells tomatoes starting at $3.99/lb.
A pack of seeds was $1.50 and my plants are 2-4' tall and loaded.
Which is great and all if you have room to grow them—and aren’t a complete brown thumb. But a lot of people live in high-rise apartments without so much as a balcony.
And before someone recommends container growing indoors—assuming the apartment is oriented so the tomato gets enough light—that adds also the cost of pot, soil, and probably fertilizer, and then you have a very toxic plant in your house, which needs to be kept away from kids and pets.
Ahh true. I do have outdoor pots for mine and natural sunlight. My grow tent houses herbs like basil that I use year round.
Sure, it's midsummer. But if the tariffs are still on in December... Well, I'll probably still have cherry tomatoes on my balcony in Los Angeles, but it won't work for someone in Minnesota.
Fortunately, TACO.
Donaldine Trumpuannette: let them eat kiwi instead.
They should just throw them over the wall.
He probably thought he was throwing tariffs on Italy. “Don’t get me wrong folks, I love Sbarro…”