With the import of tomatoes, 99% comes from Mexico and Canada.
ustradenumbers.com
As you try to digest the 25% rates against Mexico and Canada that President Trump announced today, while you listen tonight to his first State of the Union address of his second term, consider this:
99%of the tomatoes that came from Mexico (86%) and Canada (13%) imported by 2024.
99%of the imported SLA came from Mexico (588%) and Canada (11%) in 2024.
With carrots, 88% comes from Mexico and Canada.
ustradenumbers.com
88%of the imported carrots came from Mexico (49%) and Canada (39%) in 2024.
70% of the imported avocados came from Mexico in 2024.
67%of the imported strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries come from Mexico (63%) and Canada (4%).
60.7%of all imported onions and garlic came from Mexico (52%) and Canada (8.7%) in 2024.
57.8%of all imported green beans and peas come from Mexico (56%) and Canada (1.8%).
I have chosen to concentrate on the import of fruit and vegetables because inflation, and in particular the costs of food, is generally assumed that it was a factor in the presidential race of 2024 between President Trump and the then vice-president Kamala Harris. It is what shoppers see every time they grab a plastic supermarket or pull a cart from the bead of carts.
These rates will also influence exports and imports at a number of border crossings, in particular in Pharr, Texas and Laredo, but including roots in Arizona and the border south of San Diego in California.
Earlier I wrote a column about how the impact of rates imposed on Mexico and Canada, the top two trading partners of the United States, from the position of American exports to those countries. What would be the impact if wide retribution rates would go into place?
But instead of concentrating on the most valuable export – which would have clearly demonstrated that the impact rates will have on the car – industry – I looked at all individual categories to see how deep they would reach in the American export trade, how many different types of companies would be affected in the United States. What I discovered was that Mexico or Canada was paramount for 72% of the export categories.
Before that I wrote a column about how much more dangerous a trade war with Mexico and Canada would be compared to the existing with China, precisely because of our export power with our USMCA partners. Although American exports to China have grown rapidly over the past decade, the percentage of export to total trade is still lagging behind the American average with the world, while Mexico and Canada are on or above the average.
In response to Trump’s 25% rates that today came into force against the two largest trading partners in the country, Canada has announced that it will impose rates on the United States as a retribution. Mexico has indicated that it will decide this weekend.
Also Trump:
Many estimate the impact that the rates of Mexico and Canada will have. Certainly, the stock market shows displeasure. What is really harmful, in my estimate, is the uncertainty of all this and the reduction of trust that our strongest allies in the United States will have for years.
