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Mexico Is America’S Third Largest Trading Partner And Second

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Mexico is America’s third largest trading partner and second largest supplier of agricultural goods.(ustr). The import and export procedures between the two support 1.1 million jobs according to the U.S. Department of Commerce (ustr). There is no doubt that America’s relationship with Mexico is not only important but based in mutual benefit. America’s current president believes that building the wall is necessary to prevent terrorism and drug trafficking (src). President Trump is operating under the assumption that once the border is closed, and illegal immigrants are deported that there will be an increase in U.S. employment. The idea that immigrants are stealing jobs and bringing crime across the border is not only false but harmful. …show more content…

A few of the imports we receive from Mexico are avocados, tomatoes, sugar, and tequila (ustr). Trade is not a one-way street, and by increasing taxes on the roughly 20 billion dollars in agricultural imports the U.S. receives from Mexico, America is left vulnerable to a trade war with Mexico. In 2009, Mexico put retaliatory tariffs in place over a trucking dispute with America (src). If America destroys their relationship with Mexico there is much to be lost.
If America destroys their trade relationship with their southern ally then they will stand to lose a substantial amount of imports that cannot be replaced on U.S. soil. Mexico has developed an agricultural infrastructure over time that America would be hard pressed to replicate. In order to fill that void, the U.S. would have to draft legislation that commandeers farmable land and places people in charge of that land. Then, going through arduous process of get those farms established and growing food efficiently. It would take years of bureaucratic procedures and waiting in order to get anywhere close the Mexico’s existing infrastructure. Beyond that, America is also at risk to lose the cheap agricultural labor it is receiving from Mexican immigrants that take labor intensive jobs that most Americans will not do. In a National Public Radio interview, Gabriel Thompson supports this with his first-hand experience when he recalls “And every now and then, you know, I talked to my

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