If our President holds to these Mexico tariffs, the higher price on vegetables and fruit is going to hurt lower income people much more than high income people. So it will be hurting a lot of his base. Vegetables and fruit are essential for maintaining good health and will just increase our Medicaid and Medicare costs. He should make an exception for raw produce. Regarding companies, in 2006 I was traveling through Katrina territory. I slept at a low cost camp site in Alabama and spoke with a Mexican in Spanish. He was painting post hurricane repaired housing for an Atlanta construction firm for $4 an hour. I think the minimum wage was $5.65 then. I asked if he could get paying work in Mexico would he rather work there? Yes was his answer. Then I asked what he liked about the US. He said,”Here the police are honest.”
No reason for us to be bringing in raw produce from Mexico anyway.
And the cost of it as it comes from Mexico is something like a quarter of its ultimate cost. So 5% is about 1% and 25% is about 6%.
The poor are the ones hurt most by far with the cheap labor of illegals.
But as I have been posting this morning, there are more concrete and effective steps that Trump could have taken and be taking, but isn’t.
Read about his squishiness on the issue in the first article and the steps he should have taken to stop this two years ago in the second article:
https://sidneypowell.com/media/the-ultimate-betrayal-the-truth-about-the-invasion-of-america/
Oh, and basic veggies are pretty cheap: about $1/lb on average for a careful shopper.