Texas loses $ 4.9 billion without Mexicans

It suffered a severe blow to its Gross Domestic Product from April to November, according to an analysis by the Baker Institute

Texas without the Mexicans already suffered a severe blow to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with a fall of 4 thousand 926 million dollars during the first eight months of the border closure, which runs from April to November, according to an analysis of the Baker Institute.

This amount represents an unprecedented impact, for which Mexican shoppers have stopped spending both in shops, lodging, and restaurants in the nine Texas counties that border the country.

This revenue decline represents 6.1 percent of GDP for those counties, which are Hidalgo, El Paso, Webb, Cameron, Presidio, Val Verde, Maverick, Brewster, and Starr, which together have 13 ports of entry.

Based on sales from past years, as well as crossing statistics from the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), and other indicators, the Baker Institute revealed that the lack of Mexican buyers also had an impact on tax revenues. of the State, with a fall of 242.6 million dollars.

In his analysis, he described that the affectation is due both to local Mexicans, that is, who live on the border, and those who come mainly from Chihuahua, Monterrey, Torreón, and other nearby cities, which are a vital part of the economy of that Texas region.

“Many of these border counties depend on tourists who spend their money buying goods and services, hotel accommodations, and who cross the border to entertain themselves and eat in restaurants,” the Institute described.

The drop in crossings by Mexican tourists is 62 percent in the April-September period, a percentage that would remain in November and December, because the borders are still closed to non-essential travel, and that until the moment of the analysis the figures had not yet appeared of those months.

Last Friday, the Mexican and US authorities reported that the border will be closed for non-essential travel until next January 21, 2021.

This drop in crossings has directly affected the retail exports of those Texas counties, and that refers to what they buy, in this case, the Mexicans, to take to their country, said Baker.

And the three most affected counties are Hidalgo, Webb, and El Paso, based on the number of retail exports to Mexico that they had in 2019 and which were 3,100, 579, and 552 million dollars, respectively.

So the ban on nonessential travel demonstrated that Mexicans are essential to Texas, the Baker Institute said.

Source: diario.mx

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