SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — In the time since the Trump tariffs were implemented last week, business leaders, customs brokers and truckers along the border say they have seen investment, salaries, and their income diminish.
Drivers like Aurelio, say his trips across the border have fallen anywhere from 50 to 60 percent.
“It’s been a hard hit to take, most of us work on commission, so it’s hurting us.”
Aurelio and others blame the tariffs for their profits taking a hit.
“It’s a considerable reduction,” said Jose Gonzalez, an attorney and customs broker in Tijuana.
“We are seeing a huge reduction in exports,” Gonzalez said. “Because of this, people are reducing their production, they don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow with the decisions made by our neighboring country.”
The tariffs are having a negative impact, but the uncertainty that they are creating is a bigger issue for Jose Luis Contreras, head of the maquiladora industry in Tijuana.
“Investors are holding back investment, they don’t know what’s going to happen, in the long haul this is also not sustainable for the United States,” said Contreras.
He believes companies on both sides of the border will eventually feel the effects of the tariffs and their byproducts.
“American companies are already laying people off.”
Contreras pointed to Kenworth’s manufacturing plant in Mexicali east of Tijuana, which is heavily dependent on steel and aluminum imports that now carry a 25% tariff.
“Kenworth just had a massive lay-off of 350 people.”
According to Tribuna Económica, a financial publication based in Baja California, Kenworth let go 350 workers in Mexicali in recent days.
Border Report has asked Kenworth to confirm the layoffs, but the company, based in the state of Washington, has not responded to requests for comment.
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