The turmoil in Laredo started soon after President DonaldTrump's threat to put tariffs on Mexican goods. It hasn't let upsince—even after he backed down.

“It's a logistics nightmare,” said Jose Gonzalez, a customsbroker in the Texas border town that just this year became thelargest U.S. port of entry. He's hired by companies to ensure goodscross the border in top shape and would pay any tariffs upfront.

Last week, Gonzalez fielded dozens of calls from factories andorganized to double some orders before the levies took effect.After Trump lifted his threat Friday night, companies franticallymessaged again to resume their regular delivery pace. This week, hewas still dealing with a crunch of resources and space, findingthat for every truck in Laredo, there were about two loads thatneed to be moved to their final destinations.

For this city of about 260,000 people, Trump's eruptions onMexico over the past 12 days set in motion changes that can't beeasily undone. The town is defined by trade between the twocountries, with its industrial parks housing hundreds of freightand truck-rental companies, warehouses, gas stations, and operatorsthat lubricate daily commerce. While the immediate tensions haveeased, workers still face uncertainty about what comes next from apresident who can change policy with a single tweet.

“It's like a wrestling match: You have someone's foot to yourthroat and you can breathe, but only just enough,” Gonzalez said.“The border is the lifeline of our industry.”

The effects of Trump's threat are already being felt, tariffs orno. At the World Trade and Colombia Solidarity bridges, which carryabout a total of 12,000 trucks across the border each day, waittimes on Monday were higher than usual because of the increasedorders to beat the tariffs.

Ernesto Gaytan, general manager and co-owner of trucker SuperTransport International Ltd., said his company was running at fullcapacity last week. His entire fleet of about 500 vehicles was onthe road moving goods across the border. One client quadrupledorders to save $18 million in potential tariff costs.

Storage spaces that filled up quickly last week to accommodatethe influx are still packed because there aren't enough drivers,which meant Gaytan had to turn some clients away.

“We're still beyond full capacity,” Gaytan said Monday.“Everything gets impacted by the tariffs if they ever go in.Everything goes through Laredo. Everybody's going to feel theeffects of it.”

Tariff Troubles in Texas

Texas, which accounts for more than a third of U.S. trade withMexico, would be hardest hit by any tariffs on the country. About117,000 Texas workers would lose their jobs if the full tariff wentinto effect, according to the Perryman Group. The state issecond only to California in labor-market reliance on Mexicantrade, data from the Wilson Center show. And 5.9percent of the state's gross domestic product (GDP) is based onMexican imports, second only to auto giant Michigan.

More than a third of U.S. imports from Mexico actuallyoriginated in America, with some items crossing the border multipletimes. It underscores just how interconnected and complex thetrading relationship is between the countries and makes it hard toquantify just how much Americans would be hit by the levies.

“When we're taxing things at the border, we're actually taxingU.S. goods,” said Katheryn Russ, an associate economicsprofessor at the University of California-Davis. “Consumers may notnotice, but it will filter down.”

Fruits and vegetables are among the top-traded commodities andthe most time-sensitive. Rodolfo Delgado, who owns a35,000-square-foot refrigerated warehouse in Laredo's north end,said his clients were worried delays at the border could hurt theirproduce.

“Importing fruits and vegetables, it's like importing a trailerof dynamite with a wick on it,” Delgado said. “You cannot hold it,you just have to send it to the final destination to be sold.”

Some of his clients were resigned last week to absorbing the 5percent tariff hit, while others were opting to freeze their goodsor looking at selling to Canada instead of the U.S., he said.

“There are many other countries in the world that will buy andsell to Mexico,” Delgado said Monday. “What we've got is the threatfrom Trump that's still looming on us, and people are reallygetting tired of it.”

With a final U.S.–Mexico trade deal still to be worked out,there's more unease hanging over the region.

“It's just one thing after another here,” said Miguel Conchas, president of the LaredoChamber of Commerce. “It's the uncertainty that really plays havocwith businesspeople here in town and in Mexico.”

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