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Avocado farmers in the rolling hillsides of Mexico's Michoacan state are not worried for now by U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to tear up a trade deal which could make the favorite snack of Super Bowl viewers more expensive.
Americans will chomp through huge amounts of avocados mashed into guacamole during the Super Bowl on Sunday, and 80 percent of those fruits will come from Mexico's ever-larger expanse of orchards, thanks to a free market created by the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994.
It is peak season for guacamole, a word that means avocado sauce in Mexico's native Nahuatl language. Some 100,000 tons of the green fruit, or 12 percent of annual U.S. demand, will be consumed on Sunday and in the days before and after the New England Patriots game against the Atlanta Falcons, exporters say.
With such market dominance and demand, growers like Adrian Iturbide doubt Trump's eagerness to impose duties on Mexican goods will dent exports. They feel they have little to fear from proposals by the Republican such as a 20 percent blanket tariff on U.S. imports from Mexico, that would affect sales of "green gold" to the northern neighbor.
http://www.voanews.com/a/avocado-country-mexicans-not-afraid-of-trump-tariff-threats/3705581.html
jmg257
(11,996 posts)Nwgirl503
(406 posts)I've read too many to count social media responses (from Trump supporters) regarding the whole Mexico issue (illegals, ending trade with them, imposing tariffs on their imported goods, etc) and the overwhelming responses are along the lines of "I'll gladly pay more for my produce or products".
And I'm just sitting here wondering why none of these same people are willing to pay even less for people less fortunate than them to enjoy the same freedoms they enjoy. Willing to pay $12 for a head of lettuce, but not willing to have your taxes go towards bettering the lives of other humans.
Piedras
(247 posts)Yesterday I went shopping at a grocery in San Luis Obispo, CA where avocados were $.48 apiece. Not sure if they are local produce or from Mexico.