WACO, Texas — Valles Mexican Restaurant, off of Valley Mills Drive in Waco, shares the potential struggles it will face if tariffs on imported goods from Mexico are placed and how it is preparing for them.
- President Trump is optimistic about the country's benefits from his tariff plan with Mexico, Canada, and China.
- President Trump proposes a 25% tariff on goods imported from Mexico, like avocados and limes.
The tariffs thus far for goods like avocados have been suspended but will be reviewed come April 2nd, 2025
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
President Trump is praising how his tariff plan between Mexico, Canada, and China will soon benefit the country, but as of right now, if you walk into local restaurants like Valles on Valley Mills, the situation seems a little bleak.
“Business has been getting slow with time and then all the products have increased in price and it's going to get worse with all the importation like imports that come from Mexico which is all like avocados, limes, all kinds of peppers, rice, beans, all that's going to go higher,” Manager Esmeralda Ortuno said.
Manager Esmeralda Ortuno said this family-owned restaurant is worried about being able to afford imported ingredients like avocados for almost every dish.
“We are working on getting a new menu at the moment, so prices are going to go up on most of the items on the menu,” Ortuno said.
“I’ve heard some restaurants shutting down, uh, like hopefully that doesn't happen to most of our local restaurants here, because I'm pretty sure everything's going to affect every business, especially Mexican restaurants,” she said.
KXXV asked: “How many avocados do you guys go through a week?”
With four to five boxes a week and 60-70 avocados in a box, that’s up to 350 avocados weekly and 1,400 a month. With the potential 25% price hike, Valles is already thinking ahead of what could be and preparing for an uncertain future.
“We had to decrease hours for employees and stuff like that. So even though sometimes we have to work more because we can't be, we will be here if needed, if it is slow, but employees will not be here for free,” Ortuno said.
