Over the weekend, President Trump announced tariffs on goods from Mexico, calling them in part a response to illegal immigration and drug smuggling. The 25% import tax has since been postponed until next month while the countries negotiate. New Mexico U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez on Thursday criticized the potential trade war as harmful to the economy and unhelpful for border security.
Vasquez was one of several members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to speak at a news conference about the group’s immigration and border priorities.
“We are committed to working in good faith to find real solutions to the challenges at our border and fix our broken immigration system,” he said.
The Congressman called the looming tariffs on Mexico “reckless,” warning that the move could “devastate” New Mexico’s border economy and strain the country’s as a whole.
He cited auto manufacturing, including parts that pass through the Santa Teresa port of entry multiple times in the process, and Mexican alfalfa that southern New Mexico farmers and ranchers rely on.
“If Mexico retaliates with its own tariffs, our pecan growers, our dairy farmers, our ranchers who drive nearly $1 billion in economic activity in my state will be amongst the hardest hit,” he said.
Overall, federal data shows New Mexico exported $3.4 billion in goods to Mexico in 2023.
Vasquez pointed instead to a package of immigration and border security measures he has introduced as the kind of solutions Congress and the President should be considering. They include protections for farmworkers and asylum seekers, crackdowns on cartels and human traffickers, and enhanced border technology to target drugs.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said that, as part of postponing the tariffs, Mexico has agreed to send thousands of troops to the border to help stem the flow of fentanyl.
