sandiegouniontribune.com DSATURDAY • JUNE 8, 2019

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DIRT-RICH GARDENING

WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trump an-

nounced Friday night that a dealwas in place that would avertthreatened tariffs on Mexican im-ports in exchange for Mexico tak-ing “strong measures” to curb theinflux of Central American mi-grantsat theU.S. southernborder.

The agreement, which camejust two days before Trump hadvowed to enact 5 percent, across-the-board tariffs on one of theUnited States’ top trading part-ners,calledfortheMexicangovern-ment to widely dispatch its Na-tionalGuardforcestohelpwithim-migration enforcement, with pri-ority on its southern border withGuatemala, according to a jointstatement.

In addition, the two countrieswouldexpandaprogramknownastheMigrant Protection Protocols,created this year, that allows theUnited States to return Central

American migrants to Mexicowhiletheyawaittheadjudicationoftheirasylumhearings inU.S. immi-gration court, a process that cantakemonths.

The expansion of the programcould result in tensof thousandsofmigrantswaiting in limbo inMexi-co. MPP already has faced legal

challenges, andwhile a federal ap-peals court panel inSanFranciscohas allowed it to temporarily con-tinue while it reviews the policy,some judges have indicated thatthe MPP program might not beconstitutional.

“Iampleasedtoinformyouthat

A long line of trucks slowly make their way into the United States from Tijuana at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. The United Statesimported $346.5 billion in goods fromMexico last year.

HAYNE PALMOUR IV U-T

TRUMP: PLANNED TARIFFS‘INDEFINITELY SUSPENDED’U.S., Mexico agreementincludes measures toreduce flow of migrantsBY DAVID NAKAMURA,NICKMIROFF & JOHNWAGNER

Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s foreign minister, characterized theagreement as “a fair balance.”

JACQUELYN MARTIN AP

SEE TARIFFS • A11

AjudgeFridaydealtaseri-ous blow to the Julian volun-teer firefighters hoping to re-gain control of their depart-ment fromthecounty.

SanDiegoSuperiorCourtJudgeRandaTrappsetasidea ruling she made on April 5that foundtheboardofdirec-tors of the Julian-CuyamacaFire Protection District hadviolated the state’s openmeeting law in early 2018 bysecretly agreeing to vote toseekthedissolutionofthevol-unteer firedistrict.

That ruling was signifi-cant because it could havevoided the directors’ vote toinitiatetheprocessthateven-tually led to thedisbandingofthe department that hasserved thepopular rural areafor37years.

She said shewas orderinganewtrialbeheldonthemat-ter because there had been“several irregularities” in theproceedings. She also said“because indispensableparties were not named orserved, they were preventedfromhavingafair trial.”

In late April, Trappgranted a motion by thecounty to intervene in that2018 lawsuit, which originallypitted a group of volunteerfirefighters against thedirec-torsof thedistrict.

That motion by thecounty and theLocalAgencyFormation Commission(LAFCO), which oversees

JULIANFIRERULINGFAVORSCOUNTYNew trial order hurtsvolunteers’ questto run departmentBY J. HARRY JONES

SEE JULIAN • A8

All he wanted to do wasplug up awasp nest becausehe’s allergic andwasworriedaboutbeing stung.

It was a hot day. Therancher in theNorthernCal-ifornia town of Potter Valleywalked into a bed of waist-high cured grassland, driv-ing a stake into the ground.

That created a spark thatgrew into the largestwildfirein statehistory.

The blaze grew larger bythe second, and the man’sattempts to smother it withdirt were futile. Authoritiesthisweekreleasedtheir find-ings on the cause of theRanch fire, the largest of thetwo blazes in the massiveMendocino Complex thatbegan last summer and wasnot contained until January.Inall, 459,123acresandmorethan 280 structures wereburned. One firefighter was

THE SPARK THAT STARTEDSTATE’S BIGGEST WILDFIRERancher’s fear ofwasps inadvertentlyled to conflagrationBY JOSEPH SERNA

The Ranch fire, part of the Mendocino Complexfire, became the largest in state history andburned more than 400,000 acres.

NOAH BERGER AP

SEEWILDFIRE • A10

SACRAMENTOA California commission

tasked with studying wild-fire costs stressed Fridaythat lawmakers should re-thinkthe legalstandardthatholds electric utilities finan-cially responsible for blazescaused by their equipmenteven if they didn’t do any-

thingwrong.But legislative leaders

continued to cast doubt onany proposal that could beseen as a bailout for PacificGas &Electric Corp., whichfiled for bankruptcy earlierthisyearas it facesbillionsofdollars in claims from vic-tims. State investigators re-cently determined PG&Eequipment sparked theblaze last year that nearlydestroyed a Northern Cali-fornia town.

“It’s a vote that, politi-cally, I’m sure a lot of our

PANEL URGES EASING RULEON LIABILITY FOR UTILITIESFire commissionissues proposalsto state lawmakersBY ANDREWOXFORD

SEE UTILITIES • A10

Businesses that hadbeengird-ing for the start of tariffs onMexi-can goods rejoiced Friday at thenews that the levies were not hap-pening, but were still guardedabout the future.

From the brokers who facili-tate the movement of exportedgoods through U.S. Customs tobeer and produce importers, therelief was palpable, even as theyremained anxious about the pos-sibility that the threat of tariffscould rise anew. Mexico and theU.S. reached a deal late Friday toavert what would have been esca-lating tariffs as high as 25 percentthat many agreed would havewreaked economic havoc on bothsides of theborder.

“It’s fantastic, it’snowbusinessas usual, and hopefully we can

HALT TO TARIFFSELICITS RELIEFIN SAN DIEGOAND TIJUANABY LORI WEISBERG &WENDY FRY

SEE RELIEF • A11

HIRING INU.S. SLOWSSHARPLYC1 • The U.S.

economy added 75,000jobs last month, asharp pullback from the224,000 jobs added inApril. But the joblessrate remained at anearly 50-year low of3.6 percent.

BUSINESS

President Trump announced Friday that tariffs he threatened against Mexico will not go into effect, drawing a sigh of relief in the San Diego business community.

“This is welcomed news by the thousands of businesses across the U.S. that were grappling with the uncertainty these threats cause,” said Jerry Sanders, president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“We are optimistic that this new agreement will prevent further threats — and we can refocus efforts on passing USMCA and securing a prosperous and mutually beneficial relationship with our country’s number one trading partner,” he added.

Trump tweeted just after 5:30 p.m. California time that the tariffs would not go into effect because of a deal with Mexico over immigration through that country.

“I am pleased to inform you that the United States of America has reached a signed agreement with Mexico,” tweeted Trump. “The tariffs scheduled to be implemented by the U.S. on Monday, against Mexico, are hereby indefinitely suspended.”

He said Mexico has agreed to “strong measures to stem the tide of migration through Mexico” to the U.S. border.

According to the State Department, Mexico has agreed to deploy its national guard to apprehend migrants and fight gangs, increase intelligence sharing with the United States, and allow migrants seeking asylum to wait in that country.

Trump had threatened to impose tariffs on imports from Mexico and increase them by 5% each month until Mexico stopped Central American migrants from traveling through that country to apply for asylum in the United States.

The tariffs would be paid by American consumers and U.S. companies that manufacture in Mexico, but over time would hurt the Mexican economy as well. California imports more than $18 billion worth of goods from Mexico, and trade between the two countries supports 566,000 California jobs.

Top Mexican officials have been in Washington throughout the week trying to persuade the Trump administration not to impose tariffs. Trump also faced a potential rebellion by Republicans in the Senate, who largely opposed the tariffs.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the deal “good news for Kentuckians and for all Americans that U.S. families won’t be hit with the price increases that would have resulted from new tariffs on imports from Mexico.”

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H OM E + G A R D E N U - T I N D E X

FARM-FRESH LESSONS

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.A longtime municipal

employee in Virginia Beachshot and killed 12 peopleFriday afternoon and in-jured several others inside apublic works building be-fore he was killed in a fiercegunbattle with police, cityofficials said.

Police Chief JamesCervera said an officer wasamong the wounded butwas saved by his protectivevest. He said the gunman“fired indiscriminately”with a .45 caliber semiauto-matic handgun on severalfloors of the building, one ofmany in the complex.

The chief said peoplewere found wounded on allthree floors and one wasshot in a vehicle outside.Hesaid four victims were insurgery Friday night butthere might be others whosought treatment on theirown.

Speaking at a late-nightnews conference, Cervera,along with the mayor andVirginia’s governor, spoke inimpassioned tones aboutthe horror of what unfoldedin a building used by asmany as 400 workers as wellas residents trying toobtainbuilding permits, pay waterbills orwork throughzoningissues.

The chief said police

were working to notify fam-ilymembers of the slain vic-tims, who were not identi-fied Friday night. He saidthey have identified theshooterbutwouldnotmakethe name public until theycould reach relatives.

Cervera said the shooterwas armed with a gun withanattached soundsuppres-sor and extended maga-zines, enabling him to fire

many rounds and engagefour police officers in whatthe chief described as a“long-term gun battle”downbuildinghallways.

“The officers stoppedthe suspect from doingmore carnage in the build-ing,”Cervera said.

He called the shooting a“devastating incident” that“none of us want to be heretalking about,” adding that

it was “going to change thelives of a number of familiesin our city.”

The chief said author-ities will name the shooter,who according to a cityspokesman worked in thepublic utilities department,only once. Thereafter, “hewill be forever referred to asthe suspect. Our focus is onthe dignity to the victims in

Family members of city employees gather outside the Princess Anne Middle School in Virginia Beach, Va.,where they had been directed to go to reunite with their loved ones after the shooting.

VICKI CRONIS-NOHE AP

GUNMAN KILLS 12IN VIRGINIA BEACHAuthorities: Longtime city employee opens fire in municipal buildingTHEWASHINGTON POST Virginia

BeachMayorRobert Dyer(left) joinsCity Coun-cilmanAaron Rouse(right) andChief ofPolice JamesCervera at anews confer-ence Fridayto discussthe shootingat the city’sMunicipalCenter.KAITLINMCKEOWN AP

“This is the most devastating dayin the history of Virginia Beach.”Robert Dyer • Virginia Beach mayor

SEE SHOOTING • A8

President Trump’s planto imposetariffsonMexicanexportsasacudgel tohalt il-legal immigration will likelyinflict immediate economicpain on U.S. consumers,from higher costs at thesupermarket and auto re-pair shops to pricier six-packs of craft beer fromBajaCalifornia.

Not long after news hitThursday that the presi-dent was planning to im-posewhatwouldbe escalat-ing tariffs on all goods im-ported from Mexico, callsand emails came flooding into the San Diego Regional

Chamber of Commercefrom local businesses andtrade groups fearful of theimmediate financial reper-cussions. Under Trump’sannounced plan, the tariffwould continue risingmonthly until Mexican au-thorities halted the flow ofimmigrants across the U.S.southernborder.

“Atariffonimportsispaidby the importer. You’re nottaxing Mexico,” said PaolaAvila, vice president of inter-national business affairs forthe chamber. “We’ve heardfromevery industry, fromau-tomotive, beer andwine dis-tilleries, agriculture. Every-one is alarmed by this, themaquiladora industry is upin arms. Why? Because it’seconomic suicide for every-one.”

Trump announced thetariffs through a series of

TARIFFS MAYHIKE COST OFFOOD, AUTOS,ELECTRONICSFees on Mexicanimports would befelt immediatelyBY ROB NIKOLEWSKI& LORI WEISBERG

Tijuana security guard Javier Morales directs trafficas a long line of trucks entering the U.S. slowlymake their way to the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.

HAYNE PALMOUR IV U-T

SEE TARIFFS • A10

Business groups onbothsides of the border reactedwith strong opposition toPresident Donald Trump’sannouncement of plans toimpose tariffs on all Mexi-can imports, which wouldimpact the cost of automo-biles, appliances, electron-ics, fruits andvegetables.

Some warned of “direconsequences” to the cross-border economy and others

worried about secondaryimpacts such as deteriorat-ing binational relations andderailing negotiations overanew tradeagreement.

In late March, Trumpthreatened— via Twitter—tocompletelyshutdowntheU.S. border with Mexico,sending alarm through thelocal business community.He later backed down, con-ceding that the economicimpact to the U.S. would betoodevastating.

Economic experts saidTrump is more likely to im-pose tariffs, and just thethreat, whether real or not,is enough to create uncer-tainty among businesses

IMPORT THREATBY TRUMP STUNSAT THE BORDEROpposition mixedwith uncertaintyamong businessesBYWENDY FRY& ALEXANDRAMENDOZA

SEE BORDER • A11

‘LIKE MONEYFALLING FROMTHE SKY’B1 • Steady rains and

cooler temperatures in Maybenefited county farmers,saving them irrigation costsand making for healthierplants and bigger crops, too.

TESTS IDENTIFYMOUNTAIN LIONB1 • DNA testing

confirmed that a mountainlion that attacked a4-year-old boy earlier thisweek is the same cat thatgame wardens found laterand killed.

LOCAL

Gilberto Sanchez transfers avocados from a bag into a crateat the Rockwood Ranch in Escondido.

EDUARDO CONTRERAS U-T

The volunteer firefighters wholocked themselves inside a firestation in Julian the past twomonths were ordered to leave im-mediately by a Superior Courtjudge Friday afternoon, a rulingthatwas instantly appealed.

San Diego Superior CourtJudge Randa Trapp said the vol-unteers had “been keepinghostage” the property of the for-mer Julian-Cuyamaca Fire Pro-tection District, which was dis-solved in early April and nowtechnically belongs to the County

FireAuthority.“They need to leave forth-

with,” she said. “They need to beout. It is time.”

But within hours, an appeal ofthe decision was made by CoryBriggs, an attorney who repre-sents the directors of the formervolunteerdepartment.

Although fire andsheriff ’s offi-cials had been preparing to go toJulian and evict the volunteersfrom the station lateFriday after-noon, thoseplansarenowonholdbecause of the appeal.

“The law provides that an ap-peal stays (the temporary re-straining order issued by thejudge) so we are directing the fireauthority and sheriff not tomoveforward with removal at thistime,” county Director of Com-

VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERSORDERED TO LEAVE STATIONQuick appeal of judge’sdecision prevents anyaction in Julian standoffBY J. HARRY JONES

SEE STATION • A7

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tweets Thursday night andFridaymorning.

“Mexico has taken ad-vantage of theUnitedStatesfor decades,” Trump said inoneof theposts.

The president said his ad-ministration will impose a 5percent tariff onMexican im-ports onJune 10, but thatwillbe doubled to 10 percent onJuly 1 and increase by 5 per-centagepointspermonthun-til October, when the tariffswould “permanently remainat the 25 percent level unlessand until Mexico substan-tiallystopstheillegal inflowofalienscoming through its ter-ritory.”

In amove to defuse grow-ing trade tensions with theU.S., the Mexican govern-ment said Friday that thetwo sides would meet inWashington next week forhigh-level discussions.

JockO’Connell, the inter-national trade adviser at LosAngeles-based research andconsulting firm BeaconEconomics, said the biggestimpactwill be felt in theauto-motiveandhigh-techsectors.

“The real danger here isindisruptingexistingsupplychains,” O’Connell said.“There’s a lot of production-sharing that goes on be-tweentheU.S.andMexico.Alot of those vehicles thathave been manufactured inMexico contain sub-compo-nents that are manufac-tured in California — par-ticularly if it’s electronics. Ifit has something to do withcomputers that are increas-ingly incorporated into mo-tor vehicles, a lot of that iscoming fromCalifornia.”

Consumersmay not real-ize it, but the cross-bordernature of the auto industryresults in a multiplier effectwhen it comes to tariffs, saysthe Michigan-based CenterforAutomotiveResearch.

“We are building vehiclestogether, so there may be apart made in Canada andsent to Mexico and then itcomesbacktotheU.S.and isput on an engine andgoes toMexico for a car that comesback to the U.S. for sale,”said Kristin Dziczek, a vicepresident at the Center forAutomotive Research.“What thatmeans is the tar-iff multiplies every time thatpart crosses theborder.

“We’re going to see costsgoupwhenyoubuyacarandrepair a car, andmany of theafter-market products weuse, like air filters, oil filters,sparkplugs,windshieldwip-ers, are made in China orMexico. So if they have veryhigh tariffs, that will makemaintaining your vehicle alotmore expensive.”

At least 14 percent of ve-hicles sold in the U.S. wereproduced inMexico, accord-ing to Edmunds, the onlinecompany that researchescars andautopricing.

Locally, San Diego andImperial counties import$4.1 billion in goods yearlyfrom Baja California, ac-cording to Avila of theChamber of Commerce. As-suming an initial 5 percenttariff in June, that translatesto an overall tariff of $17mil-lion on those importedgoods, she said.

Nationally, the U.S. im-ported $346.5 billion ingoods fromMexico last year,according to governmenttrade figures. Using thosenumbers, a 5 percent tariffwould translate to more

than $17.3 billion. A 25 per-centtariffwouldequalabout$86.6 billion.

Reacting to the tariffnews,thestockmarkettookadive Friday, with the DowJones Industrial Average fall-ing 354.84 points, a loss of 1.41percent. The companies con-sidered the “Big Three”amongU.S. automakers each

finished the trading day innegative territory. GM wasdown 4.25 percent, Ford wasoff 2.26 percent and FiatChrysler was down 5.82 per-cent.

Inadditiontoautomanu-facturing, Mexico is also apopular location for compa-niesmaking consumer elec-tronics.

Taiwan’s Foxconn has itsown factory in Tijuana, forexample, which employsabout4,500peoplemanufac-turing Sony-branded televi-sions andmedical devices.

O’Connell said the im-pact of a 5 percent tariff “ismanageable” because theMexican peso dropped 3 to 4percent on the news of thetariff.

“Thatmeans a dollar canbuymoreMexicanproduct,”O’Connell said. “So thattends to mute the impact ofa 5percent tariff.”

But if the tariff grows to25 percent, “That’s a serioustariff,” he added. “It’s goingto increase the cost of a lot ofthe goods flowing back andforth (between the U.S. andMexico) that is eventuallypaid for by the consumer —the person who’s buying ei-ther a finished automobileor going to an auto partsstore and buying a new part

for your car.”Californiansarealsoheav-

ily dependent on Mexico fortheir fruit and vegetable con-sumption. The CaliforniaGrocers Association, whichrepresents 80 percent of thestate’s grocers, estimatesabout one-third of their pro-ducecomes fromMexicopro-ducers. San Diego-basedSpecialty Produce, whichsupplies awide range of freshvegetables, fruits and herbsto 700 restaurants in SanDi-ego County, cites a similarpercentage.

A 25 percent tariff couldcost consumers of Mexicanproduce such as avocadosandmangoes $3billion annu-ally, according to the FreshProduce Association of theAmericas, a tradegroup.

While not as big a sector,beer and wine imports fromMexicowill alsobehugely af-fected, say importers.StevenWalker, ofSanDiego-based Polaris Beverages,worrieshis entirebusiness isin jeopardy once tariffs areput in place, especially ifthey go higher. Walker’scompany imports aboutabout 20,000 cases annuallyof Cerveza deColima, Insur-gente and Cerveza Lobacraft beers from Baja Cali-fornia, which is distributed

throughout Southern Cali-fornia.

Walker estimates the tar-iffs could add about a dollarto the price of a six-pack, al-though he’s not so sure howmuch more consumers onthis side of the border arewilling to pay for premiumbeer fromMexico.

“My first reaction when Iheard about the tariffs wasI’m not going to have a busi-ness,” Walker said. “Thecraft beer industry is verycompetitive to begin with,especially in Southern Cali-fornia, and the Mexican in-dustry has the added ex-pense of importing all theraw materials to make thebeer and then you add in thetransportation costs.

“Given the simple factwe’re paying more to pro-duce the beer, the price is al-ready higher here comparedto other craft beers so itmight be unreasonable tothink the consumer will paya higher premium with thetariffs. I already sent off myletter to my congressmanand to Donald this morn-ing.”

Similarly impacted iswine importer La Compe-tencia Imports, based inNapa, which handles 21 dif-ferent brands in Baja Cali-fornia. Many of the well-re-garded wines from Valle deGuadalupe in Mexico arestill relativelynewtotheU.S.market, making it harder topass on tariff costs to wineconnoisseurs, La Compe-tencia founder Tom Braca-montes said.

“So just as you’re build-ing your customer base andworking with distributorsand retailers and restau-rants, how are they going toreact to a price increase?”said Bracamontes, who im-ports up to 3,500 cases ofMexicanwine a year. “I don’tthink the market can sus-tain an across-the-board 5percent increase. And howlongcanyoueata lowermar-gin before you go hungry fi-nancially, so that’s themathwe’re all doing right now.”

One strategy, he says,may be to import signifi-cantly more wine than nor-mal before the start of thetariffs in order to “buy ustime to allow the politicalsystem to deal with this is-sue.”

In the meantime, the es-calating nature of the tariffs“puts a lot of pressure” onthe Mexican governmentand president Andrés Ma-nuel López Obrador, saidJamesHamilton, economicsprofessor at UC San Diego.But Hamilton questionedthe strategy from a politicalstandpoint.

“Even if (the LópezObrador administration)wants to accommodate,they’re still going to have todo it inawaytosave face,po-litically,”Hamilton said. “Ul-timately, their constituencyis the Mexican public andthey have to find away to re-spond to this that doesn’tmake it look likeMexico wasjust ordered around by theUnitedStates.”

The Los Angeles Times contributedto this story.rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.comlori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com

TARIFFS • U.S., Mexico share production of a range of productsFROM A1

Produce truck driver Jose Luis Espinoza, who is bringing fruits and vegetables into the U.S., waits near theOtay Mesa Port of Entry. California is heavily dependent on Mexico for fruit and vegetable consumption.

HAYNE PALMOUR IV U-T

Sources: San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce; U-T Research DANIEL WHEATON U-T

Trump’s tariffs would add upThe proposed tariffs would increase by 5 percent each month. According to theCalifornia Chamber of Commerce, the state imported $44 billion worth of goodsfrom Mexico in 2018, which is roughly $3.7 billion a month. That number is usedto calculate the table below.

Date, proposedtariff Tariff amount Total cost of goods

$3.7BNo tariff 0

$3.8B$0.2BJune 10 5%

$4.0B$0.4BJuly 1 10%

$4.2B$0.5BAug. 1 15%

$4.4B$0.7BSept. 1 20%

$4.6B$0.9BOct. 1 25%

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — San Diego business leaders reacted with alarm to President Trump's plan to slap tariffs on goods imported from Mexico.

On June 10, the President plans to place a 5% tariff on items like avocados, tomatoes, cars and medical devices that come from south of the border. They would increase until reaching 25% on Oct 1. Trump says the tariffs would continue until Mexico addresses the issue of migrants at the border.

The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce has come out strong against the tariffs. The Chamber says Mexico is San Diego's biggest trade partner, with a $2.5 billion manufacturing supply chain that's now at risk.

Jerry Sanders, the chamber's CEO, says every manufacturing job in Tijuana leads to half a new job in San Diego.

"If consumers cut back because of the price of goods, that means there will be fewer jobs and there will be less production on both sides of the border," he said.

Some consumers already appear wary.

Mancher Nasar, who lives in Rancho Bernardo, said he expects his grocery bill to rise as the tariffs kick in.

"I'm concerned about middle class families," he said. "You're putting a 25% tariff but you're not getting 25% more in your paycheck."

University of San Diego economist Alan Gin said tariffs are normally used for economic purposes, not political ones.

"This is as far out as we've ever seen in the use of tariffs," Gin said.

Gin said San Diegans will feel them, but that states like Texas and New Mexico will fare worse. Gin said that's because a lot of the manufacturing belt in Mexico is in the central part of the country.

Mexico Tariffs: San Diego businesses say consumers will pay more The chamber condemned the proposed tariff, which is scheduled to go into effect June 10, calling it "significantly damaging." Author: City News Service, Shannon Handy, Reporter Published: 6:36 PM PDT May 31, 2019 Updated: 6:36 PM PDT May 31, 2019

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce Friday joined critics of President Donald Trump's threat to tax Mexican imports, saying such a move would have "dire consequences" for the area's economy. Trump proposed a 5% tariff on all Mexican imports in a Twitter post yesterday, which he said will gradually increase to 25% by Oct. 1 if the Mexican government fails to stop immigrants entering the country illegally through the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump suggested the tariff would also force auto manufacturers to return their facilities to the United States to avoid the additional costs, which often get passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices. "Mexico has taken advantage of the United States for decades," Trump said in a Twitter post Friday morning. "Because of the Dems, our Immigration Laws are BAD. Mexico makes a FORTUNE from the U.S., have for decades, they can easily fix this problem. Time for them to finally do what must be done!" The chamber condemned the proposed tariff, which is scheduled to go into effect June 10, calling it "significantly damaging." According to the chamber, San Diego County currently has a $2.5 billion manufacturing supply chain with Mexico. "In San Diego we aren't just trading with Mexico," said chamber President and CEO Jerry Sanders. "We are producing together. The implementation of tariffs would have dire consequences on our region's highly developed integrated supply chain, adversely affecting our local manufacturing and trade-related jobs." White House officials elaborated on the plan Thursday, saying Mexico could avoid the tariff altogether by tightening its own southern border with Guatemala and taking a hardline approach to drug cartel and smuggling activities. Immigration officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Friday they would deploy to Guatemala to help the country's local authorities stem the tide of immigrants attempting to enter Mexico, and ultimately the U.S., illegally.

The announcement drew pushback from some members of Congress -- Republican and Democrat. Meanwhile, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wrote a letter to Trump Thursday, saying he prefers a dialogue about the two countries' relationship rather than a confrontation. Lopez Obrador also threatened to impose tariffs of its own on U.S. goods should Trump's tariff go into effect. Sanders and the chamber expressed concern the tariffs could also put the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a trade deal that would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, in jeopardy. The three countries hoped to ratify the deal by the end of the year after signing it last November. "The resulting trade war will have a chilling effect on the U.S.- Mexico relationship and runs counter to U.S. efforts on border management and security," Sanders said. "Instead of tariffs we should work to strengthen our relationship with our friends, allies, business partners and neighbors to the south."

San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce says the new tariffs on Mexico proposed by President Donald Trump will be damaging to the local economy.

News of the tariffs broke through a series of presidential tweets on Friday morning. Trump said that a 5% tariff will be imposed June 10 on Mexican goods and continue to increase by 5% every month through October, until "illegal immigrants coming through Mexico into our country stop."

In Mexico City, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said his country wanted to work with the U.S. to find a solution, but he also said the use of coercive measures doesn’t lead to anything good.

The reaction from San Diego business leaders was similar.

“Tariffs on imports from Mexico will be the most damaging for us,” said Paola Avila with the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. “Imposing tariffs, trade policy to address migratory issues is not the solution. You’re mixing two very different issues."

Avila said those tariffs will cost all Americans. But she said the effects here in San Diego will be especially harsh. The region imports $4 billion a year worth of goods from Baja California, and the new tariffs on those goods will cost San Diegans a lot.

“That will result in $17 million for one month under the 5%,” Avila said.

Without a resolution, she said that $17 million in tariffs would balloon to $34 million in July and so on, until topping out at a 25% tariff in October. And Avila said the tariffs won’t solve the issue of illegal immigration.

“It’s certainly not going to address it, it’s going to worsen it," she said. "If you’re hurting the economy of Mexico, our number one neighbor, and the country ... you could actually increase migratory patterns from Mexico, not just Central America.”

May 31, 2019 - 5:00 p.m. broadcast

Impact of proposed tariffs on Mexico