A new tariff on imported tomatoes from Mexico is creating challenges for local restaurant owners in the Coastal Bend who rely on this essential ingredient for many of their dishes. At Guajillo's on the Island, co-owner Andres Rosas has noticed the immediate impact on his business.
"Everything has tomatoes. All the sauces that we have, it has tomatoes," Rosas said.
The United States Department of Commerce announced the Trump Administration recently ended the decades old Tomato Suspension Agreement, which exempt fresh Mexican tomatoes from antidumping. Antidumping is a trade measure taken by a country to protect its domestic industries from foreign companies selling goods at significantly lower prices than what they sell them for in their home market. As of July 15th, 2025, a 17.09% antidumping tariff was imposed on most fresh tomato imports from Mexico.
The restaurant, which has been serving authentic Mexican cuisine in Texas for almost 30 years, is now receiving tomato shipments that are "smaller and more expensive," according to Rosas.
"We had to cut some stuff that we had on our menu, because of the prices increasing, like we used to do some breakfast, obviously the breakfast, they have tomato, avocados, and we had to cut a lot of stuff," Rosas said.
The impact extends beyond just removing breakfast tacos from the menu. Customers will also see price increases on remaining items.
"We have to also increase the prices of our menu, because of the price for the tomatoes, for the salsa and everything," Rosas said.
The Rosas family remains committed to using fresh ingredients imported directly from Mexico, maintaining the quality their customers expect.
"Everything that we get is from Mexico," Rosas said.
Despite these challenges, Rosas is working to preserve the authentic Guajillo's dining experience for his loyal customer base.
"We have a lot of customers that they're locals, they always come, same people, they always come here. So, it's not like I'm gonna be changing the price of my menu every two weeks, every, you know," Rosas said.
More tariffs on imports on imports from Mexico and the European Union are scheduled to take effect on August 1, potentially impacting additional products beyond tomatoes such as olive oil, avocados, coffee, and more.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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