SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — The tariffs that President Donald Trump imposed on Mexican products this week caught a majority of maquiladoras in Tijuana off-guard.
Diana Reyes Herrera, president of the Tijuana Association of Human Resources, said about 60 percent of maquiladoras did not have a contingency plan and weren’t ready when tariffs were briefly in place.
She also said if tariffs return on April 2, most companies expect fewer orders but no layoffs due to the high number of job openings throughout the city.
“We don’t foresee massive layoffs, but there is fear of little growth and hirings in the future,” she said. “No one is talking about letting personnel go, but we will not see the growth in jobs that we’ve seen in previous years.”
Currently, there are about 8,500 job vacancies in the maquiladora industry within the city of Tijuana, most in the medical device manufacturing sector, according to Herrera.
Reyes Herrera also stated companies have been forced to develop contingency plans to avoid work interruptions based on decisions made in the United States.
“Everyone is analyzing likely impacts under different scenarios and looking at possible options to avoid an big economic downturn.”
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