Business on the Border: An Insightful Q&A

Considering our reliance on labor, we must continue to press our elected officials to compromise towards a solution, or we will continue to see U.S. agricultural production suffer.

At the same time, I worry about some of the rhetoric towards Mexico. If you look at the volume of trade between the United States and Mexico in produce alone, more U.S. businesses rely on this trade as part of their overall success. We should be looking at ways to help facilitate trade, not create barriers or engage in rhetoric that creates rifts with our trading partners and neighbors.

Jungmeyer: The candidates on both sides have made statements that would make you think they’re open to rolling back free trade agreements. We have to educate whichever side wins to make sure they understand there is value to having these agreements, not only in terms of having produce at a reasonable price but also for growing exports from the United States.

We’ve seen a nice cross-proliferation, and generally speaking, imported produce faces a higher bar than domestic produce. Whether it is legitimate or not, it does. Whatever happens, there will be new secretaries and a new cabinet—and we’ll have to work with them.

Images: Felix Lipov, sagir & f11photo/Shutterstock.com.