Mexico is Indiana’s fifth-largest source of imported goods. Last year, the state bought four-and-a-half-billion dollars of Mexican products. Auto parts account for about a sixth of that, but Mexico is also a major source for radio and T-V monitors and receivers, gas and electric flow meters, and locks and keys.
Kyle Anderson with the I-U Kelley School of Business says that means even the locksmith on the corner could feel the pinch, especially as tariffs rise. President Trump is threatening a five-percent tariff on all Mexican imports starting June 10, with another five-percent added every month unless he’s satisfied with Mexican efforts to control the border.
Anderson predicts the tariff will create a drag on the economy, especially the auto industry supply chain — auto parts are Indiana’s biggest Mexican import. And he says it’s likely Mexico will retaliate with tariffs on American products, squeezing Hoosier farmers and consumers.
Indiana Senator Todd Young says he has “serious concerns the tariffs could “significantly harm” Hoosiers. He says it’s Democrats who need to make the tariffs unnecessary by working with Republicans on border protections.
