Ammunition for a Trade War Between U.S. and Mexico

“The United States Department of Commerce signaled then that it might be willing to end a 16-year-old agreement between the United States and some Mexican growers that has kept the price of Mexican tomatoes relatively low for American consumers. American tomato growers say the price has been so low that they can barely compete. . . .

The Mexicans argue that they are under attack for producing a better product. They say they have invested heavily in new types of tomatoes, in greenhouses and in sophisticated agricultural techniques to improve productivity and quality.

The Mexicans say Florida tomatoes are picked green and then gassed with ethylene to turn them red, but tomatoes grown in Sinaloa ripen on the vine, which accounts for the explosion in vine-ripened tomatoes sold in American grocery stores.” (New York Times)

Maybe if they genetically engineered the tomatoes to be red, white, and blue . . .

FEE Timely Classic

“Why Managed Trade Is Not Free Trade” by Robert Batemarco

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