Under tariff threat, US wholesaler warns: 'People will pay'

Jackie Luna - Reuters - 28/11
While most of Los Angeles sleeps, 58-year-old Melquiades Flores starts his day at 1 a.m., supervising the unloading of produce at M&M Tomatoes and Chile Company, the wholesaler he started in 2019.
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LOS ANGELES, Nov 27 (Reuters) - While most of Los Angeles sleeps, 58-year-old Melquiades Flores starts his day at 1 a.m., supervising the unloading of produce at M&M Tomatoes and Chile Company, the wholesaler he started in 2019.
But the business that Flores hopes to pass to his children one day is bracing for a disruption.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to impose a 25% tariff on all imports from Mexico and Canada when he takes office on Jan. 20, plus an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods.
"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 Ja...
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