CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Nearly every day, the Atlanta State Farmer’s market is bustling with activity.
There are the outdoor stalls of vendors selling all sorts of produce, and up the hill are big trucks shipping produce to stores all throughout the Southeast.
However, on Tuesday, some orders were more expensive because of new tariffs.
“Everybody uses the tomatoes, everybody uses the bananas, everybody uses the cilantro, everybody uses everything. Who’s going to pay? Our community,” Jesus Brito, owner of Brito Produce, said.
Brito provided Channel 2’s Michael Doudna with a cost sheet showing an increase in prices for goods coming from Mexico.
“For example, for avocados, from $68 to $85 to $88 for a case of avocados,” Brito said. “It’s upsetting for me because I’m going to pass this to my customers.”
“The effect of these tariffs will be mutual destruction. It’s similar to an act of economic war,” Sina Golara, assistant professor of supply chain management at Georgia State’s Robinson College of Business, said. “You get the worst of both worlds. You get slower growth and higher inflation.”
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Golara told Doudna that the agricultural industry is more susceptible to short-term tariff ingredients because some goods can only be grown in certain parts of the world, and products can go bad if they are not fresh.
That prevents companies from moving production or storing up reserves before tariffs take effect.
Already, China and Canada have announced retaliatory tariffs of their own, including a Chinese tariff instituted Tuesday targeting the agricultural industry.
“This may be destructive for both sides. Both have incentive to figure it out, to come up with a mutually profitable solution,” Golara said.
“If this is just a negotiating tool and these end up being very temporary, they will have minimal impact on the economy. But if these tariffs stick around, they will be brutal for us and the people in other countries,” Channel 2 consumer advisor Clark Howard said.
Howard said that prices will increase based on where the products are from and shoppers may try to find replacements for goods that see prices skyrocket.
“Grocery items where there are not a bunch of alternate sources will go up the full amount of the tariffs,” Howard said.
Locally, those like Brito worry that unless tariffs are stopped, it will impact nearly everyone.
“Everybody. It’s not going to be white, Black, or Hispanic, because everybody eats,” Brito said.
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