Avocado prices are surging to the highest levels in nearly a decade amid President Trump’s threat to close the border with Mexico.
Some prices from Mexican-grown avocados — the biggest supplier to the U.S. — jumped as much as 34%, a one-day gain not seen since April 2009, and could continue to rise.
“Avocado prices could easily double or triple if we shut down the border,” vice president of Rabobank Roland Fumasi told Bloomberg, adding that Mexico accounts for almost all of Americas avocados right now, because California’s harvest is delayed due to a heat wave last year.
About 75-80% of avocados in the U.S. come from Mexico, with around 16% coming from California, and the rest from Chile and Peru.
This week, Trump threatened to close the U.S.-Mexican border over what he called the continued immigration crisis, telling reporters Tuesday that the U.S. will either have a “strong border” or a “closed border.”
He also cut aid to El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, countries whose citizens make up many of the caravans that have traveled north with the intention of claiming asylum at the U.S. border.
[Opinion: If Trump shuts down the border, say goodbye to taco Tuesday]
