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BumRushDaShow

(156,458 posts)
Sun Jul 13, 2025, 03:43 PM Sunday

US tomato prices could jump as soon as Monday

Source: CNN Business

Published 11:30 AM EDT, Sun July 13, 2025


CNN — If tomato prices jump because of new tariffs on the Mexican-grown produce, restaurant owner Teresa Razo says her businesses could go bust. “I give it three months, and then we go bankrupt,” said Teresa Razo, owner of two Argentine-Italian restaurants in Southern California.

On July 14, a nearly three-decade-old US-Mexico trade agreement may give way to 20.9% tariffs on most Mexican tomato imports. That could mean higher prices for Americans at the grocery store, at the pizza parlor — anywhere that uses tomatoes. And for some small businesses, higher prices could close them down entirely.

The tomato tariffs are among the latest examples of President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff policy, which has shaken up global trade, left companies uncertain how to plan for the future, and made Americans nervous about where the world’s biggest economy could be headed. Field-grown tomatoes cost US shoppers about $1.70 per pound as of May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Consumer tomato prices could rise by about 10% and demand may fall by 5% as a result of these tariffs, according to Timothy Richards, a professor of agribusiness at Arizona State University. The United States is the top market for Mexican tomato exports, according to the US Department of Agriculture. In a June report, the department found that the new tariffs would likely lead to a drop in tomato imports and higher prices.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/13/business/tomato-tariffs-mexico-prices



We are in the U.S.'s "domestic" tomato season but since stable genius decided to raid the farms and the mechanical harvesters are best for tomatoes used in juice or sauce, etc. (vs out of hand eating types), then...
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Bengus81

(9,002 posts)
1. And MEGA burger joints will jack prices even when they don't put tomatoes on their burgers
Sun Jul 13, 2025, 03:50 PM
Sunday

Just like Covid,they won't let a good crisis go to waste when you can rape consumers for billions of $$$................

dutch777

(4,623 posts)
3. Holding my breath for that. Only a fool like a Trump appointee would even have said that originally.
Sun Jul 13, 2025, 04:14 PM
Sunday

Kali

(56,325 posts)
4. I wonder how it affects the tomatoes grown in my area
Sun Jul 13, 2025, 04:24 PM
Sunday

Grown in US shipped to Mexico for packaging then shipped back here.

BumRushDaShow

(156,458 posts)
7. The importer would need to get some guidance on that
Sun Jul 13, 2025, 04:56 PM
Sunday

Philly is across the river from Jersey with the famous "Jersey tomatoes", which probably sprung out of the early Campbell Soup Company setting up shop there and they are still there with their HQ still in Camden, NJ.

They bowled their old building down about 8 years ago -



and had built a new one -



Nothing like Jersey tomatoes & corn at this time of year!!!

Silent Type

(10,470 posts)
5. Tomatoes are a good measure of affordability. Used to work in store with 2 prices, one if they ask
Sun Jul 13, 2025, 04:35 PM
Sunday

price, and a higher price if they didn’t. Teenage job that taught me how not to be.

LogDog75

(626 posts)
6. I have a friend who grows tomatoes
Sun Jul 13, 2025, 04:51 PM
Sunday

and he always has more than he can use so he give them away. Also, San Diego County has close to 5,000 small farms, the most small farms in the country, so I can buy them at farmers' markets.

I grew some tomatoes a couple of years ago on my townhouse patios and although not a bumper crop there were enough for my needs. I'll probably do that again next year not just because of the scarcity or price but for the fun of it.

BumRushDaShow

(156,458 posts)
8. I used to have a pile on my balcony
Sun Jul 13, 2025, 05:08 PM
Sunday

when I was in a hi-rise and grew a bunch of different heirlooms. I'm in a house now with a small patio and have one in a vegtrug (a standalone raised bed unit) with a pepper and some herbs. I wanted something small so have a "Patio" one and since I didn't want the squirrels taking a bite out of them and then leaving them on the ground, I have the insect cover over the unit.

ClaudetteCC

(79 posts)
13. I grow my own but only part of the year
Sun Jul 13, 2025, 10:09 PM
Sunday

otherwise I buy bland tasteless varieties which ship well and store well

PoindexterOglethorpe

(27,999 posts)
9. As if tomatoes are worth buying in the first place.
Sun Jul 13, 2025, 05:23 PM
Sunday

No flavor. I need to try to get to a farmer's market.

doc03

(38,115 posts)
11. Saw some southern Ohio "Marietta" tomatoes today $6 for four. Sometimes they call
Sun Jul 13, 2025, 05:35 PM
Sunday

them "Marietta tomatoes" but they are from Marietta Georgia though. Anyway I am not paying $1.50 a tomato.

Buddyzbuddy

(1,161 posts)
12. Lucky for the Felon, he doesn't like produce. Mmm more hamberders.
Sun Jul 13, 2025, 05:56 PM
Sunday

Oh, but trashing the walls in anger will become more expensive.

DENVERPOPS

(12,987 posts)
14. Good one...........
Sun Jul 13, 2025, 10:16 PM
Sunday

whatever will he do when he has tantrums like a three year old/????? Bet his cleaning staff will be happy!!!!!!!!!

jmbar2

(7,045 posts)
16. Oranges today at Walmart - .99 each for the small ones
Mon Jul 14, 2025, 01:09 AM
Monday

The size you normally see at the "seconds" markets.

There were a couple of immigrants nervously shopping in the same aisle. Then a crusty old guy rolled up to me in the disabled cart and started joking about going out into the fields. I assumed he was a maga. I asked him which crops he would be best suited for - strawberries or beets. He chuckled and said apples.

Then the two migrants started putting stuff in his cart. Realized that they were together. I gave a hand signal to them that I supported them. They signalled back "thanks". Also thanked the man with them. Told him that I appreciated his looking out for them. He replied, "Oh no. They look out for me".

There is kindness in the world amidst all the ugliness.

twodogsbarking

(14,352 posts)
17. My garden tomatoes are ripening. I don't have enough for all of you. Sorry.
Mon Jul 14, 2025, 08:33 AM
Monday

The federal ketchup budget will have to be increased.

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