During the usual meeting with journalists of president Claudia Sheinbaum, the minister pointed out that, if the 25 percent tariff promised by the ruler were imposed, consumers in the neighboring country would face higher prices.
Referring to the fact that Mexico is the main supplier of automobiles and auto parts in the United States, the official specified that the tariffs would affect 12 million families, which would pay an additional amount of 10,427 million dollars, causing strong inflationary pressures.
This country is also the fifth largest supplier of computers to the neighboring nation, and the announced tax would affect 40 million families there, who would see an increase of seven thousand 104 million dollars in their purchases.
Likewise, the Latin American territory is the second world exporter of screens and the first supplier in the United States, so the decision would affect 32 million families in that place, which would have to pay two thousand 397 million additional dollars.
One of every three refrigerators purchased in the northern country comes from Mexico, added Ebrard, pointing out that five million American families would be affected by this measure, which would represent an additional outlay of 817 million dollars for them.
In the conclusions, he mentioned that consumers in the neighboring nation would face a price increase in supermarkets (fruits, vegetables, meat, beer); cars and trucks (impact on dealerships and spare parts); electronic products and appliances, and medical equipment.
He also predicted a greater impact in border states such as California, Texas, Florida and Arizona.
“This is what we estimate, the impact from one day to the next, so that we have a perception of why a 25 percent tariff is a strategic error. It is important to be clear, the main impact: millions of families in the United States will have to pay 25 percent more,” he said.
Trump has insisted that he will apply tariffs to products from Canada and Mexico starting February 1, under the pretext that they are allowing the entry into national territory of “massive quantities of people and fentanyl.” However, data from the United States Customs and Border Protection Office contradicts the president’s claims about the alleged “invasion” of undocumented immigrants on the southern border.
According to that agency, on December 18, 2023, 12,498 encounters of people in an irregular migratory situation were recorded, the highest in history, while on January 18 of this year the total dropped to 2,803, a 78 percent decrease in these illegal crossings.
On the other hand, some of Mexico’s most recent results in terms of security are eloquent -according to experts- including a historic seizure of fentanyl.
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