The lawyer in the United States: uncertainty and consumer accumulation, for fear of a shortage

Citizens were alarmed when Donald Trump threatened to close the border with Mexicobut it is not for families seeking asylum or minors separated from their parents, but for lawyers.

The White House reiterated that it would close the border with Mexico this week to prevent the arrival of immigrants to the United States and it will do so regardless of the economic consequences for the country.

After the announcement, the alerts were triggered by one of the consequences of this blockade: In three weeks, avocado stocks could be exhausted.

Fearing that a blockade at the border prevents Mexico from sending 80% of avocados consumed by the United States, processors and wholesalers began to accumulate the precious fruit used to make the popular guacamole.

Lawyer prices rose nearly 50% last week solely because of this increase in purchases.

Stefan Oliva, senior research badyst at Gro Intelligence, who collects and badyzes agricultural data, said that "Purchasing managers, wholesalers and processors" are asking for lawyers in case the border closes before the Mexican celebration of Cinco de Mayo.

Of the thousands of products that cross the border between the two countries daily, few have given as much to speak as the lawyer.

In recent days, many media have announced that, with his decision, Trump could leave the country without one of the products of the moment, or what is the same, without the toast to the spread of avocado, guacamole or mouth-watering salads with this fruit.

The United States imported nearly $ 2,100 million of avocados from Mexico in 2018, over 900,000 tons, he said.

This figure represents about ten times the value of the lawyers that he buys from the rest of the world. and more than ten times what the US is currently producing, according to Gro Intelligence data.

"What will happen if there is no more lawyer?"; "Lawyer prices rose 34%, the largest increase in a decade"; "Without margaritas or lawyer, the border blockade will affect the palaces" or "How the border dispute between Mexico and the United States could affect the toast to the lawyer", These are some of the titles that filled the American newspapers.

"Here, we have already been told that the price of lawyers will increase, we all report from Mexico"says Efe María Ramos, Market Manager El Progreso, a supermarket of Latino products in Washington.

Ramos explains that distributors have already warned that bringing this fruit would cost more, because the stocks that remain in the distribution centers will be highly coveted if imports stop.

The same situation could recur with the hundreds of products from Mexico and other Latin American countries that cover the store's corridors..

In addition, closing the border could result in the exhaustion of some supermarket aisles, from Mexico, about 40% of vegetables and 30% of fresh fruits imported by the country, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Agriculture.

In all vegetable import statistics, Mexico appears as the leading and advantageous countryexcept in the processed vegetables sector, where it is overtaken by China and the European Union.

"The first affected are us, who buy these products to sell here and now they are going to cost us more money, "says Ramos without knowing whether he will increase the price to his mainly Hispanic clientele.

At his side, a customer listens to the conversation while paying at the cash desk. A few minutes later, at the exit of the supermarket, he asks the journalist: "Have you come to ask questions about lawyers?"

For this man from El Salvador, who asks for anonymity, It is difficult to understand the concern that this product has aroused in the midst of the humanitarian crisis affecting thousands of families on the border.

The threat of product shortages also affects another international store in Mount Pleasant, the Latin Quarter of Washington, called Bestworld and is full of Latin American fruits, such as yucca, nopale, mango and papaya.

"We have received a lot from Central America, Mexico, El Salvador … Of course, it would touch us", recognizes its owner, of Asian origin, who asks not to be identified and who does not intend to think too much.

But not only Latin American companies will be affected by the closure of the border, because The supply of large supermarket chains depends largely on Mexican products.

In Giant, one of the largest chains on the east coast, The label "product of Mexico" is omnipresent in the section of fresh products: tomatoes, mangoes, avocados, peppers, nopales, tamal leaves … all with breads, cakes and tortillas.

Faced with the fever that awakened many years ago the fruit of the avocado in the western world, especially in the country, California has increased the production of this product, but this will not be enough to cover demand.

The California Commission of the Attorney already He advanced last February that his avocado crop would be half that of last year, affected by an intense heat wave.

With the turmoil that the lawyer has gathered, it remains to be seen if Trump 's decision to close the border to prevent the arrival of immigrants is hampered by the culinary tastes of Americans.

With Efe and Reuters information