TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Donald Trump says he’ll slap 25 percent tariffs on products coming from Mexico and Canada. That could affect billions of dollars in trade for Southern Arizona.
The name on your car or the logo doesn’t really tell you whether it was made in the US anymore. Ford makes plenty of models in Mexico. GM makes models in Mexico, Kia, Honda, plenty of manufacturers make cars in Mexico and in Canada and all of those models could be looking at a 25 percent tariff if President-Elect Trump follows through on plans to impose tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods as a way to get more leverage on border issues.
Donald Trump’s tariff threat is less about the billions of dollars in legal products crossing the border and more about pressuring Mexico and Canada to do more to stop illegal drugs and illegal immigration. But the threat has cranked up anxiety for legal border businesses.
“I've already received probably about five to 10 phone calls from my clients asking me, what are our opinions? What do we think? What do we see happening?
Josh Rubin of Javid LLCmanages factories for 35 clients who assemble goods in Mexico, then ship them to the U.S.
He says companies with factories in Mexico make parts for everything from aircraft to homes and none of them can take a 25 percent tariff without passing it on to consumers.
“There’s a very large presence of medical components that are being manufactured in Mexico, for example, in Tijuana, there's a very large medical industry out there that that is going to suffer these duties as well.”
Earlier we talked with leaders in the Mexico to Arizona produce industry. They see tariffs as a negotiating threat but doubt they will hit Mexican produce because those tariffs would inflate food prices.
Janice Johnson thinks tariffs would jack up prices and worries people don’t realize how much.
KGUN9 reporter Craig Smith asked: “If it's a leverage tool about border issues. Do you think that part might work?
Johnson: “No, although I think the immigration and the border issue is a very important issue, I think the pocketbook speaks louder, and so when people have to pay more, they may not be so concerned about the border.”