Business owners are trying to prepare for a future with new tariffs, and consumers will likely see higher prices.
U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed Monday that tariffs would start on Tuesday, after a monthlong delay on the import fees on all goods from two of the country's largest trading partners.
In Arizona and Mexico, businesses on both sides of the border have been trying to prepare for the 25% tariff on all goods crossing north over the Southwest border.
“Tomorrow — tariffs 25% on Canada and 25% on Mexico,” Trump told reporters at the White House Monday.
At the beginning of last month, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Trump made a last-minute deal just before tariffs were going to go into effect to delay them for a month. Just a day away from that deadline, Sheinbaum said there’s still a chance she’ll have another call with Trump and come to an agreement.
Sheinbaum has said she will impose retaliatory tariffs if Trump’s tariffs go into effect.
“We’re going to wait and see what happens,” Sheinbaum said at her regular morning news conference. “We have to have patience.
In her call with Trump in early February, Sheinbaum promised to send 10,000 additional Mexican National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. Mexican economic and security officials were in Washington, D.C., last week, and the two countries are in regular touch with each other.
In Arizona, business owners who rely on imports from Mexico and Canada are watching closely to see what happens on Tuesday. In Phoenix, Sku Distribution warehouse and fulfillment company owner James Peacock said businesses owners that rely on imports from Mexico are looking for new ways to manage.
“I anticipate that a lot of people are anxious,” Peacock said.
Sku Distribution is categorized as a Foreign Trade Zone, which means the goods that are shipped to Peacock’s facilities pay tariffs when their products exit the warehouse, rather than when they move across the border. That gives businesses more options about when they pay duties and taxes, Peacock said.
Peacock said he’s had an uptick in interest as businesses, especially businesses overseas, that are attempting to plan for a future with new tariffs.
“They’re trying to figure out ‘hey, how are we going to get our goods into the U.S. … when there’s some uncertainty around these tariffs,” Peacock said.
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