Avocados could be in short supply, disappear in U.S. if Trump shuts border with Mexico
Avocado toast may have to wait if President Donald Trump gets his way and shuts down the border with Mexico.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said that almost half of all fruits and vegetables are imported from Mexico -- about 40 percent, Reuters reported.
If the president’s threat of fully closing the border with Mexico comes to fruition, one produce company, the largest distributor and grower of avocados in the world, said the country would run out of avocados in three weeks.
"You couldn't pick a worse time of year because Mexico supplies virtually 100 percent of the avocados in the U.S. right now. California is just starting and they have a very small crop, but they're not relevant right now and won't be for another month or so," Steve Barnard, Mission Produce president and chief executive, told Reuters.
Trump, last week and over the weekend, threatened to shut down the Mexico-U.S. border despite being told the move would hurt business and do little to stop migrants from coming into the country.
Mexico must use its very strong immigration laws to stop the many thousands of people trying to get into the USA. Our detention areas are maxed out & we will take no more illegals. Next step is to close the Border! This will also help us with stopping the Drug flow from Mexico!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 30, 2019
"First, you'd see prices rise incredibly fast. Then ... we would see layoffs within a day or two," Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas in Nogales, Arizona, told The Washington Post.
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