Tijuana, July 25.- The protests at the entrance and exit of trade routes between Mexico and the United States resulted in losses of $440 million in exports and imports, said Israel Delgado, president of the National Chamber of Cargo Transportation (Canacar).
"Freight transport operators are already very worn out by their time, and the losses we anticipate from this sit-in—because what we saw today isn't a demonstration, it's a sit-in—will have an economic impact on both the freight transport industry and the export industry."
Meanwhile, Luis Armando Padilla Fitch, president of the Mesa de Otay Industrial Association (AIMO), noted that companies are having to deal with wait times and could be fined for the protest, which municipal, state, and federal authorities were unable to control.
"We hope the authorities have engaged the protesters appropriately and that this situation is resolved more quickly."
They pointed out that 65 percent of the region's economic activity depends on foreign trade; at least 7,000 import and export transactions are carried out daily, so the number of crossings was not achieved, affecting the entire commercial chain of the maquiladora industry.
Alfonso Millán, a Canacar representative and a representative of the company MEXLOG, which carries out export operations for the Toyota vehicle assembly plant, called for the intervention of all three levels of government to resolve the problem, which is seriously impacting the industry.
"We call on the authorities to help us and support us, because a day like today cannot be repeated. The impacts on the region, both in the United States and Mexico, are monstrous. We need to send a signal to the country and the industry, because economic activity depends on customs crossings, and we don't understand how we can achieve these terrible impacts."
The protesters' sit-in continued at the Mesa de Otay Customs and Border Patrol Station at 6:00 p.m. this Monday, without any intermediary from the state or federal government seeking to reach a settlement.
