While most of Los Angeles rests in the quiet hours of the night, 58-year-old Melquiades Flores begins his day at 1 a.m., overseeing the unloading of fresh produce at M&M Tomatoes and Chile Company, the wholesale business he founded in 2019.
Flores envisions passing the thriving business to his children, but those plans are now clouded by uncertainty.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to impose a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada after his inauguration on January 20, along with an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods. These proposed tariffs could bring significant challenges to Flores and countless others in the industry.
“Produce of Mexico” is stamped on almost all the boxes of tomatoes and chilies that arrive at Flores’ downtown warehouse, destined for homes, hotels and restaurant kitchens across the city.
“People will have to pay a higher price. Whatever they charge us, we will pass on to the consumer,” Flores said from his section of the larger complex, the Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market.
No matter what happens in January, Flores says he has no option but to keep importing produce from Mexico, especially in the winter. The chili-growing season in California lasts four months, from August to November, he says. The rest of the year, he gets the produce from the Mexican states of Sinaloa, Baja
California and Sonora.
His team stacks boxes upon boxes of tomatoes in every size and shade of red, plus some shiny green ones for making zesty tomatillo sauce.
“Any tariff is an added tax that impacts all of us, including those who buy a pound, two pounds, or a thousand or
10,000 pounds,” said Flores, who has lived in Los Angeles for 40 years and is originally from the Mexican state of Morelos.
Trump has pronounced his love of tariffs, presumably for raising revenue and protecting U.S. industries against imports,but he avoids speaking about the inflationary effect or the impact of potential retaliation from the United States’ top three trading partners.
Officials from Mexico, Canada and China and major industry groups have warned that the tariffs Trump proposes would harm the economies of all involved, cause inflation to spike and damage job markets.
“The president should have first seen how much this will impact everyone before speaking,” Flores said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
