Roberts: Trade will bounce back on Cameron County international bridges
BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Ken Roberts, president of WorldCity, held a webinar with Cameron County International Bridge System titled “2020 Cameron County Trade Trends Webinar.”
The program, in English and Spanish, also featured Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr., Cameron County International Bridge System Director Josue Garcia, Jr., and Bob Parker, port director for U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Port of Brownsville.
Collating data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Roberts looked at imports and exports through Cameron County’s various bridges, pointing out that the county does $18 billion worth of trade with the world.
While trade is down because of the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the world economy, Roberts sees reason for optimism.
“We’re in the middle of this tough but things will get better,” Roberts said.
One of the questions asked of Roberts focused on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which is the successor trade deal to NAFTA.
“What is in the middle of the transition from NAFTA to USMCA is pandemic and the economic fallout. I think even without that the transition would have been gradual,” Roberts said.
Florida-based Roberts said there are not a lot of changes between the two trade agreements.
“But some of those involving automotive in particular will have some impact because there are some changes to the wage requirements that affect only Mexican labor, not Canadian or U.S. labor,” Roberts said.
“And then there are some changes that affect the quantity of parts that will go into cars that are eligible for the tariff elimination. What remains to be seen is will people abide by the new regulations to avoid the tariff or just pay the tariff with the less expensive, essentially Chinese motor parts.”
To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.