President Trump wrote a series of Tweets on Friday that caught agriculture’s attention.
The Hill Dot Com says he threatened to close the southern border unless Mexico took steps to stop the illegal border crossings.
The tweets come as the administration continues to warn of a crisis at the border.
Trump blames both Democrats and Mexico for the problem, even accusing Mexico of making “a fortune” from the U.S. that is greater than the cost of protecting the border.
In the meantime, both the business and ag communities are pushing back against the threat.
The president hasn’t said yet how it would actually work, but business groups are preparing for the worst.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says the threat alone “creates a degree of economic uncertainty that could potentially wipe out the administration’s other economic policies.”
Dairy producers point out that Mexico remains the largest export market for U.S. milk products. Mexico accounted for $1.4 billion in dairy exports last year.
Dairy Export Council President Tom Vilsack says:
“Closing the southern U.S. border to Mexico would be a gut punch that could set the industry back by a decade or two.”
The move would also hurt American consumers at the grocery store because nearly half of the U.S. vegetable imports and 40 percent of fruit imports come from Mexico.