Withering on the Vine

This editorial by Carlos Fernández-Vega appeared in the July 16, 2025 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier leftist daily newspaper.

Without a doubt, the decision to impose a tariff (17.09%) on Mexican tomato imports is unfair and unilateral (Sheinbaum dixit), that is to say, the same thing that has been done (and will continue to be done) with other national products aimed at the US market, but it must be emphasized that Donald Trump’s objective is not economic, but political: to bend our country, to overwhelm it. It’s useless for Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard’s office to boast that we already have negotiations with our northern neighbor, when it is more than obvious that the savage in the White House has no intention of reaching an agreement: Trump imposes and humiliates, and it depends on the other side to allow it.

The Mexican government decided to negotiate with its US counterpart from the moment Trump first announced the tariffs, and months later, the achievements are nothing to brag about. This isn’t due to a lack of interest, arguments, or persistence on the Mexican side, but rather to the attitude of the Machiavellian resident of the White House, who refuses to budge an inch, using any number of pretexts. It’s pointless to say that this isn’t just happening in Mexico, but all over the world: it doesn’t resolve the situation. Tomatoes are the latest—but not the last—victim of US tariffs, and it doesn’t matter if the Mexican side (both government and producers) is right.

In yesterday’s morning press conference, President Sheinbaum commented regarding bilateral collaboration, “there are issues they (the Americans) don’t like, and there are also issues we don’t like: we don’t like the 17 percent tariff on tomatoes because we consider it totally unfair; and furthermore, it will affect both countries. Likewise, she said, we have a negotiating table between now and August 1st, and we hope to reach an agreement, including on the tomato issue. If an agreement isn’t reached by that date, we will be reporting on other actions.”

But it’s not noticeable. What is noticeable is the panic of the productive sectors that haven’t moved a finger to diversify markets (and it’s been about six months), on the understanding that their products can be sold in other parts of the planet. They seem to be waiting for the goodwill of their northern neighbor, but there’s no getting around it: they must establish themselves in other parts of the world; failure to do so condemns them to being slaves to this feudal lord.

At the Latin American level, only Brazil has responded in kind at this point: “Impose a 50 percent tariff on me? Well, immediate reciprocity.” Chile will be severely affected by the recent copper tariff, but it remains cautious, because it’s necessary to be diplomatic. But can it be diplomatic in the face of Trump’s obstinacy and authoritarianism? The regional governments have not made the slightest effort to present themselves as a bloc and negotiate as such. They all appear politically correct, while the Imperial Gringo tears them apart.

What will happen to Mexican tomatoes? A statement from five of the main producer associations was read at yesterday’s morning press conference: 66% of consumption in the United States is supplied by Mexico, so there are no countries in the world that can replace Mexican tomatoes in the short or medium term in a market we have built through innovation and effort over the last 120 years. Today, two out of every three tomatoes that reach the table of housewives in the United States, or are consumed outside the home, have been grown and produced by Mexican hands in Mexico.

But Trump doesn’t care that in this case, as in so many others, the main victim is the American consumer. So his downward spiral in the face of public apporoval is not baseless.