TUCSON, Ariz (KGUN) — President Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on products Mexico and Canada export to the U.S. He has said it’s to force the two countries to stop cross-border drug and people smuggling.
Tariffs on Mexico and Canada affect your life in ways you might not truly appreciate. For instance, a whole lot of the lumber that builds our world and holds it together comes from Canada.
A lot of lumber goes from the thick forests of Canada into the frames of our homes. Pat Manley of Johnson-Manley lumber has been selling wood for 54 years.
He says right now his suppliers reacted to lumber tariffs by doing—-nothing.
“They’re in Canada. They're in the United States. They're in the south, Everybody's frozen Frozen, like a deer in the headlights, frozen. Everybody just frozen. They don't know what to do.” 6:50:39
He says he’s not going to stockpile inventory because that could leave him holding lumber he got at a bad price that may just deteriorate while he tries to sell it.
He says U.S. sawmills can make up for some of the Canadian lumber but they might raise prices to take advantage of any shortage.
Tariffs on Mexico could land on your dinner table in higher prices for fruits and vegetables.
Importer Jaime Chamberlain of Chamberlain Distributing says with products that can spoil he has no choice but to pay the tariffs and bring in the food—but notes so far Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has not slapped retaliatory tariffs on US products. Chamberlain has high hopes President Sheinbaum and President Trump can negotiate and agree to drop the tariffs.
Josh Rubin of Javid, LLCmanages more than 35 maquilas–—factories in Mexico that may send parts back and forth across the border as they assemble products for US and international companies. He says he’s spent a lot of time working through the complex tariff rules.
President Trump wants to bring factories back to the US. Rubin says tariffs may drive some companies to move more of their work to the U.S. but others may leave Mexico to go to places where it's cheaper and easier to do business.
“And if they're catching a lot of resistance right now, then maybe they go to different countries south of Mexico, or some other country in Asia that doesn't have the same style of duties.”