‘Trump Tariff’ paused for Mexico and Canada, uncertainty looms for St. Louis produce markets
“We’re already experiencing higher pricing, higher labor costs, and everything else”
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - “Man, grocery prices are expensive. I’m a vegetarian so, of course, my grocery prices are always high,” said Downtown resident Audresha Grisby.
Grisby and Americans across the nation are concerned about the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs against Mexico, Canada, and China on their pockets. Economists believe there will be a price spike for goods from electronics to clothing and shoes but say you will feel it first in your grocery cart.
That has Grisby looking for a grocery store alternative, “...a lot of greens, potatoes, and squash can get very expensive. I’ve been looking into going to different farmers markets and maybe purchasing things from there,” she said.
She’s looking for small markets, like Anthony’s Produce in St. Peters. The family-owned market has been around for almost 30 years and the owner says these tariff hikes aren’t the first and definitely won’t be the last.
“We’re already experiencing higher pricing, higher labor costs, and everything else that just goes along with everything else that’s going on nowadays,” said Mike Orlando.
Orlando says they get watermelons, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, and avocados from Mexico. Now that the tariff on Mexico is on pause, Orlando says they must strategize.
“Perishable stuff it’s limited to 7 to 10 maybe 14 days shelf life so you can’t build an inventory so you just kind of have to go with whatever the current market is doing,” said Orlando.
At The Fruit Stand & Seafood in West County, owner Keith Rapp says the goal is to stay very local with supply. Fall/winter is when they get the most products from Canada but they also get a lot of exotics from Mexico.
“They all come in from Laredo, Texas they’re from Mexico to South America, I asked about papaya, starfruit, and rambutan this morning and he said he can get them but the price is going to be up,” said Rapp.
Both businesses say they will eat the cost as much as possible but at some point, customers will get hit.
“In our business, cheap sells. If I bought a watermelon for $5 and sold it for $10 people would look at me crazy,” said Rapp.
“When I am creating my grocery list, I’m planning out my meals to where they all share the same ingredients so that cuts down on like some of the pricing when I’m thinking about my grocery budget,” said Grisby.
Tariffs in Mexico and Canada have been paused for at least the next 30 days, The White House says that’s because of agreements regarding border security but tariffs remain in play for China.
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