URUAPAN, Mexico (AP) — Mexicans are worried that threats by Donald Trump to impose 25% tariffs could affect a wide range of iconic Mexican products and threaten entire regional economies.
In western Mexico, no crop supplies an income for so many small growers as avocados. But avocado growers, pickers and packers worry that U.S. consumers, faced with 25% higher prices, may just skip the guacamole.
“I think that when there is an increase in the price for any product, demand declines,” said avocado grower Enrique Espinoza. Orchards like his are the economic lifeblood in the western Mexico state of Michoacan. “It would be a tragedy if they closed down (the border) on us,” he said.
Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration — when he said he would impose tariffs — couldn’t come at a worse time: It’s around when Mexico starts shipping crates of the green fruit north for Super Bowl Sunday, …