The US Chamber of Commerce warned that closing the border with Mexico would cause millions of losses

The US Chamber of Commerce warned that if President Donald Trump closed the border between the United States and Mexico, as he had been saying for the past few days, this would lead to losses of up to USD 1.7 billion a day in the US market.

According to the Chamber of Commerce, which represents more than 3 million businesses in the United States, the closure "could have even more devastating economic consequences than a trade war with the Chinese"

"We share the concerns of the administration about the mbadive flow of migrants seeking to enter our country along our southern border. That's one of the reasons we asked Congress to take steps to secure the border and fix our defective immigration system. However, we oppose the closure of the border", expressed the business camera through a statement.

The US president said on Tuesday that he was ready to "100%" close the border between Mexico and the United States, if authorities in the neighboring country fail to stop the flow of migrants.

"If they (Mexico) do not do it or if we do not reach an agreement with Congress, the border will be closed, it is 100% safe"Trump told reporters.

"Of course, it would have a negative impact on the economy (…) but security is more important"he admitted.

After these statements, politicians, business leaders and economists warned that the measure it would prevent the entry of cargoes of fruits and vegetables, televisions, medical devices and other products, as well as the transit of people to workplaces and schools, or to those entering the country. country to do their shopping.

"Let's hope the threat is nothing more than a bad joke," said economist Dan Grisworld, of Mercatus Center, from George Mason University, who pointed out that Trump's threat would be "totally crazy"and pointed out that every day they cross the border on average 15,000 trucks and $ 1,600 million worth of products.

"If trade is interrupted, US producers will experience disruptions in their supply chains, American families will experience higher prices for their food and vehicles, and exporters will not have their third market."he said.

For its part, Laredo Mayor Pete Saenz, chairman of the Texas Border Coalition, said that a border closure would be catastrophic.

"Closure of the border would cause immediate depression in the communities of the border states and, depending on the duration, a recession in the rest of the country."he stated.

Instead of closing the southern border, the Chamber of Commerce recommended: "Let's repair our immigration system, work to stabilize the situation in Central America and ensure sustainable and shared prosperity in North America by securing the Congress approval of the trade agreement between the United States, Mexico-Canada (USMCA, for its acronym in English) ".

Mexico surpbaded China as the United States' largest trading partner, increasing its exports to the country by 6.7 percent in January, to US $ 27,682 million..