Mexican border cities are in limbo as tariff threats spark fears of a recession

abcnews.go.com:

President Donald Trump’s threats to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada have left many cities along Mexico's northern border in limbo

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico — As soon as the sun glints over miles of border fence dividing the United States and Mexico, the engines of cargo trucks packed with auto and computer parts roar to life along border bridges and bleary-eyed workers file into factories to assemble a multitude of products geared toward the U.S. market.

For more than half a century, this daily rhythm has helped fuel the heartbeat of a transnational machine that generated more than $800 billion in trade between the U.S. and Mexico in 2024 alone.

Over the past year, however, President Donald Trump's threatened 25% tariffs against Mexico and Canada have plunged manufacturing hubs all along the northern Mexican border into limbo, a state that persists despite a one-month reprieve to which Trump agreed on Monday.

Tariffs would cripple Mexican border economies that are reliant on factories churning out products for the U.S. — auto parts, medical supplies, computer components, myriad electronics — and likely thrust the country into a recession, economic forecasters have warned. Some workers wonder how much longer they'll have jobs, while business leaders say the uncertainty has already led many investors to start tightening their purse strings.

“It’s a conflict between governments and we’re the ones most affected,” said 58-year-old truck driver Carlos Ponce, leaning against his rig at the customs border crossing between Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, Texas. “Tomorrow, who knows what will happen?”

Ponce, who was driving a truck full of car shock absorbers, said he's spent the past 35 years moving goods across the border,