Alec Laughlin owns Laughlin Mercantile and Philandry, and some of his products are imported from outside of the country. Even though he isn’t seeing tariffs affect him yet, he said he’s not sure about the future of the economy.
“So far so good,” Laughlin said. “The uncertainty of it makes it a little more challenging to plan, to pull the trigger on certain projects.”
He sources fabrics from the U.S., but some of his products come from out the country. He also sources boots from Mexico.
“There are fabrics that I’m postponing for right now that are coming from Canada,” he said.
Senator Mark Kelly and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer visited Laughlin’s shop on Sunday as well as a few other businesses at Mercado San Agustin.
“Our relationship with Mexico, our trading relationship is really important to our economy,” Senator Kelly said.
Kelly and Whitmer expressed that they feel Trump’s tariffs are going to make life more expensive for Arizonans and Americans overall. Kelly said the U.S. should go back to trade agreements with Mexico that were in place before Trump’s second term.
“That was working for us. It was working for Mexico. It’s not perfect and we should sit down and have real discussions about this,” Kelly said.
Whitmer said tariffs are going to affect agriculture in Mexico and lumber in Canada. She feels as if making affordable housing is going to become more expensive.
“It is going to be passed onto the consumer, which means we’re all going to pay a price for this trade war,” Governor Whitmer said.
Whitmer explained that Michigan exports beans to Mexico. She said her state also has vehicles go back and forth between their northern and southern border, so she said it’s important to continue to be competitive.
In specific instances, Whitmer said tariff can be a tool, but she said tariffs shouldn’t be added to the United States Mexico Canada Agreement, which Trump passed in his first term.
“Tariffs have a purpose. There’s no question. They can be used as a tool to level the playing field,” Whitmer said.
Senator Kelly said he’s encouraging Republican leaders to tell President Trump to reconsider tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
Meanwhile, Laughlin is also hoping to get answers from the federal government.
“I’m kind of in the dark a little bit in that way,” he said.
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Andrew Christiansen is a reporter for KGUN 9. Before joining the team, Andrew reported in Corpus Christi, Texas for KRIS6 News, Action 10 News and guest reported in Spanish for Telemundo Corpus Christi. Share your story ideas with Andrew by emailing andrew.christiansen@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
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