Praise, Criticism For President Trump's Mexico Tariff Plan: 'It's Americans Who Are Going To Pay The Guacamole Tax'
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Domingo Garcia, the President of LULAC, the nation's largest Latino civil rights group, rejected President Donald Trump's latest plan to stop the flow of migrants into the U.S.
"Trump is playing Mexico like a political piñata," said Garcia.
The president plans to impose a 5% tariff on all Mexican goods starting June 10.
And unless Mexico acts, President Trump says tariffs will continue to rise all the way up to 25% on October 1.
"It's the Americans who are going to pay the guacamole tax, the car tax, the tomato tax," said Garcia.
"It's getting worse and worse every single day," said conservative North Texas businessman Paul Chabot.
Chabot's company helps move families from Democratic states to Republican states.
He agrees with President Trump.
The White House says this month will surpass the record 109,000 people who crossed the border illegally last month.
"The Mexican government should know this is a major issue for our country and if they want to be partners with us, they need to take action," said Chabot.
Governor Abbott says he shares President Trump's deep frustration with Congress' inaction to fix the problem, but said,"I've previously stated my opposition to tariffs due to the harm it would inflict on the Texas economy, and I remain opposed today. Now, Congress must do its job and start passing laws to fix our broke immigration system."
Well, I'm glad he came out against the tariffs," said Garcia. "But look, we need bipartisanship. It's going to take Democrats and Republicans working together."
"I look at it as a military veteran, we all sacrifice and right now, we all have to sacrifice so we can strengthen this country," said Chabot.
In March, the Port of Laredo became number one for trade in the U.S. by surpassing the Port of Los Angeles.
Some business groups expressed concern about the President's plan.
The President and CEO of the Dallas Regional Chamber, Dale Petroskey, released the following statement on the matter:
On behalf of our more than 800 member companies who employ more than 500,000 workers, we are deeply concerned about the proposed tariffs on imported goods entering the U.S. from Mexico.
Mexico is the second-largest importer of goods into the U.S., totaling $346 billion in 2018. And since Texas receives more imported goods from Mexico than any other state, the Texas economy has more to lose by this action than any other state. The DFW economy is also heavily dependent on Mexican imports, with $639 million in imported goods from Mexico in 2018.
Tariffs on these imports will increase the cost of doing business for companies in key industries, especially automotive, telecommunications, and agriculture.
This would very likely lead to those costs being passed along to consumers, which would slow the strong Texas economy, the second-largest of any in the U.S., which would have a disproportionate negative impact on the U.S. economy.
We are also concerned that this action would delay the process for ratifying the new USMCA agreement, creating more uncertainty for North American companies.
Eddie Aldrete, Chairman of the Texas-Mexico Trade Coalition, said in a statement, "The economic consequences of Trump's new plan could be swift and severe, especially in Texas. Companies that import products pay tariffs, so U.S. firms would pay the import penalties and then likely pass at least some if not all of the costs along to consumers."