worldcity

PHARR, Texas - Reflecting the increased market share the Pharr International Bridge has gained for the import of fruits and vegetables from Mexico, the city’s 92-acre Pharr Produce District is now almost full.

When the park opened a few years ago there were 32 lots available for development. Now, just a handful remain.

This and other information related to the import and export of fresh produce at the Pharr Bridge was relayed by Luis Bazan, a director of the bridge during a recent webinar.

Early in the webinar, Tony Martinez, of Primo Trading Services, LLC, remarked that investments had slowed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Later in the webinar, Bazan agreed but predicted things will rebound.

“It has kind of slowed down due to the economy and the way things are right now. But if you look across the bridge, adjacent to the bridge and Pharr Produce District, that is strictly a cold warehousing district for the City of Pharr,” Bazan said. 

“We started with 32 available lots over a 92-acre tract. And here we are a couple of years later and we are almost at capacity. Yes, some of the construction has stopped for a little bit but that is understandable with the current economic conditions. At the end of the day, things will continue.”

Bazan said it makes sense for cold storage warehouses to be positioned close to his bridge.

“People want to be close to the bridge that they cross through. We are very excited to have these companies here that had been crossing through Pharr for many years and decided to put in the investment and work closer with us.”

The webinar featuring Bazan and Martinez was hosted by Miami, Florida-based WorldCity, Inc., which produced the 2020 Pharr Trade Numbers publication. WorldCity generates more than 10 million datasets with the latest U.S. Census Bureau data. It covers more than 200 nations; over 400 airports, seaports and border crossings; and more than 900 export and 900 import commodities.

Ken Roberts, president of WorldCity, said it is thanks to the City of Pharr that his company analyzes trade numbers by port. Before Pharr made this request all the data was obtained at the customs district level. He also said Pharr was the first client to request a Trade Numbers publication in Spanish.

“As vice chair of the Pharr International Bridge, thank you, Ken, for working with us,” Martinez said. “It truly makes our job so much easier to have you on our side because it is a fact check. You are a name that people trust. When people hear Ken Roberts they know the numbers are there. That means it is valid. It builds confidence in the people we are trying to service.”

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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.”

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