GOOD TRADE RELATIONS BETWEEN MEXICO AND U.S. VITAL FOR UTAH EXPORTERS.

• Author: Biton, Adva
• Position: Around Utah

Salt Lake City -- With one In four Utah jobs supported by International trade, Utahns should take a special interest in the rhetoric coming out of Washington, DC--especially in regards to our country's relationship with Mexico. Derek Miller, CEO of the WORLD TRADE CENTER UTAH, spoke at a Newsmaker Breakfast event at the UNIVERSITY OF UTAH's Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, where he stressed the importance of international trade to the Utah economy.

According to figures provided by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, the value of Utah's 2016 exports to Mexico was $741 million, a figure that has tripled in the past decade. Utah imports $3.3 billion in goods from Mexico, which ranks No. 1 for the Beehive State's import origins.

With the current administration promising to introduce an import tax or a border adjustment fee, renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or construct a wall along the southern border, Utahns and Utah companies may be the ones paying a hefty price. In scenarios run by the Institute's economists, a 25 percent export reduction with Mexico would account for 1,329 jobs lost and $135 million lost in the state's annual GDP. A 20 percent tariff on imports would account for 5,568 jobs lost and a reduction of $394 million in Utah's annual GDP.

"A trade war is like a regular war. There are no winners. It's bad for everyone, all the way around," said Miller.

And in looking at the three ideas the administration has considered to pay for the border wall--a flat 20 percent tariff for Mexican imports, a border adjustment tax (jokingly called a "tariff-no-tariff"), and dipping into remittances sent from Mexican families in the United States to others in Mexico--all are complex and could lead to greater consternation between the two nations, with Utah consumers and businesses dangling in the middle.

"You will recall that the first idea was a flat 20 percent tariff on all goods coming from Mexico, imported to the U.S. ... Just a flat tariff that's specifically targeted at one country, obviously, it feels personal. That has the greatest chance of inciting a trade war," Miller said. "If you add 20 percent onto goods that are coming from Mexico into the U.S., and they're going into U.S. stores ... who pays that? The consumer pays that. Mexicans aren't paying for it. The Mexican government isn't paying for it. U.S. consumers are."

Miller said he supports the administration's desire to renegotiate the North American Free...