Impacts of Mexico tariff may take time, experts say

PHARR, Texas (KVEO) – It’s a trade agreement looking to settle an ongoing immigration debate as President Trump recently announced a 5% tariff on all products from Mexico in response to the ongoing migrant crisis at the border.

It’s an issue that could have a large impact on local trade, the economy and the price of goods.

We’re less than five days away from the proposed increase tariffs on Mexico as proposed by President Trump. Thursday, KVEO visited one of the busiest land ports in the country that allows transport for billions of dollars in goods between the U.S. and Mexico.

The local director tells us a new tariff with Mexico would have a detrimental impact in the region. “It would have a detrimental impact because what it does it disrupts the supply chain,” Pharr International Bridge Director Luis Bazan said. “The U.S. as consumers, we’re the ones that take the biggest hit, because it’s gonna hit us in our pocketbooks.”

The president’s proposal comes during ongoing efforts to update trade agreements like NAFTA or the adoption of the USMCA. Some believe the new tariff could be a big hurdle between the country’s largest trading partners.

UTRGV Associate Professor Dr. Salvador Contreras said, “When President Trump decided to impose this tariff, he basically said, ‘I don’t care what trade agreements we have in place. This supersedes those agreements.’ These types of slapping of tariffs on products, there is really no end in sight. I think there is really no trade deal in the near future for anybody.”

As for the June 10th deadline, Bazan believes it will take some time to notice the impacts of said tariff. He explained, “You probably won’t feel it until you start looking at your bank account and you start noticing you’re spending a little bit more money at the grocery store, or when you go to Best Buy, you buy your television or whatever, or when you go to the dealership to get your new vehicle. I don’t think it’s going to be something that’s going to hit us like we hit a wall, but it’s something that is going to have a domino effect and eventually we’ll get there and we’ll start noticing.”

Mexican Farmers boycotted the Pharr International Bridge back in April. According to the director, the impact was a loss of over $5 million in approximately 6 hours of inactivity.