President Donald Trump’s plan to implement a 20 percent tax on all goods imported from Mexico would likely harm agriculture and consumers alike. The tax is seen as a way to pay for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, estimated to be worth billions of dollars. The tax would presumably apply to agricultural products, including fruits and vegetables that are staples in U.S. grocery stores, according to the Hagstrom Report. The United Fresh Produce Association says the tax, and renegotiating trade agreements to include similar tariffs, risk provoking a trade war. United Fresh says a 20 percent hike in the cost of foods such as bananas, mangoes and other products that we simply can’t grow in the United States, would burden consumers.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.