by Ken Blackwell
As a former Ohio Treasurer, I know the sheer impact farmers have on Ohio’s economy — and I am concerned that out-of-state lobbyists are trying to undermine President Trump’s agricultural trade deals to rig the free market against our state’s hardworking growers.
The Ohio agricultural sector is responsible for generating $15 billion in cash receipts, or 3% of our total GDP. And now, Ohio is championing greenhouse production, the next revolution in American agriculture, which will turbocharge this already impressive GDP number in the coming years — if we don’t let special interests shut it down.
Greenhouse production means growing crops like tomatoes in big, covered structures where farmers can control things like temperature, light, and water. That lets them grow food all year long — rain, snow, or shine. It leads to more, high-quality tomatoes in varieties that families love, like grape and cherry tomatoes. Think of it as farming with a roof and a smart thermostat. It’s the future of agriculture, and Ohio is leading the way.
Unfortunately, Ohio producers are being threatened by out-of-state growers who are doing everything they can to stop President Trump’s trade deals that have made this economic growth possible.
A deceptive lobbying campaign, spearheaded by a group known as the Florida Tomato Exchange (FTE), seems intent on permanently ending the 2019 U.S.-Mexico Tomato Suspension Agreement (TSA), one of President Trump’s top trade wins during his first term. Their goal? To stop greenhouse tomatoes from reaching American grocery stores so Florida’s seasonal, field-grown tomatoes don’t have to compete.
Ohioans shouldn’t fall for this cynical ploy. It’s an attempt to undercut President Trump’s agenda and reduce competition. The TSA has been a huge success, creating a much larger U.S. market for greenhouse-grown tomatoes like the ones Ohio produces. As a result, U.S. greenhouse tomato producers now grow more than one-third of all U.S. fresh tomatoes enjoyed by American families. Many U.S. tomato growers, in our state as well as Texas, Arizona, Virginia and Michigan, have integrated supply chains that rely on Mexican growing operations to meet year-round demand, especially for specialty varieties. Companies can only grow in places like Ohio when the overall supply chain is cost effective enough to sell food at prices families can afford.
While the TSA deal has proven to be a tremendous boon to the U.S. agricultural industry, President Trump is a dealmaker, and he knows he can do even better in his second term. Recently, his Department of Commerce announced plans to terminate the existing TSA, which opens the door for a new round of negotiations on an updated agreement before the planned termination goes into effect in July. The Trump administration has the opportunity and the leverage to secure even better terms than the most recent TSA.
It’s the same playbook he used with the TSA in 2019—walk away, force the other side to the table, and come back with stronger enforcement, inspections, and protections. That strategy worked then, with the Commerce Department not finding a single violation of the old agreement to date, and it will work again.
The tomato imports that have been made possible by Trump’s TSA support nearly 50,000 American jobs and contribute over $8 billion to the U.S. economy annually. That’s not something we should throw away just to shield Florida growers from the competition they don’t want.
Despite those facts, the Florida lobby is trying to mislead the public. They warn of “dumping” and “unfair imports,” but what they’re really trying to stop is competition.
Florida growers have acknowledged that “greenhouse production is not viable in Florida due to expensive infrastructure costs and a non-conducive growing environment.” With fewer than 10 acres of greenhouse production in the entire state, Florida simply cannot meet the scale, variety, and affordability that American consumers demand year-round. So instead of adapting, they want to pull the plug on the entire trade agreement—to stop others from innovating where they can’t.
An Arizona State University study suggests that terminating the TSA outright could raise tomato prices by more than 50 percent. That means higher costs at the grocery store for working families—just to protect one region’s seasonal producers. It’s crony protectionism, plain and simple—and Ohio families would pay the price.
Anyone who has followed President Trump’s bold trade agenda knows exactly what’s going on here. This is leverage. This is negotiation. And it’s a smart way to defend American jobs, American farms, and American consumers. Without a new agreement, tomatoes could become the next eggs—unaffordable and hard to find.
Let’s not let a few Florida lobbyists derail a thriving American industry, kill jobs in Ohio, and drive up food prices across the country. We Ohioans support President Trump’s move to protect American growers, workers, and families by renegotiating the TSA, not ending it altogether.
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Ken Blackwell is an adviser to the Family Research Council. He is a former Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, Ohio Treasurer and Secretary of State, and U.S Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. He is also a former member of the Trump transition team.
