Produce shortages, price hikes could start soon as feds end Sunday truck inspections
Produce shortages, price hikes could start soon as feds end Sunday truck inspections on Arizona border
Understaffed ports of entry at the U.S.-Mexico border
For the past few years, the number of trucks with Mexican produce crossing through Nogales, Arizona, has been on the rise. But U.S. Customs and Border Protection is under a severe shortage of officers and inspectors along the border.
Russ Wiles and Daniel González, Arizona RepublicPublished 5:35 p.m. MT April 2, 2019 | Updated 11:32 p.m. MT April 2, 2019
Arizona businesses and consumers could start feeling the pinch of trade disruptions with Mexico as early as next week — even without a border closure.
Federal officials say they are halting Sunday commercial-truck inspections that have expedited cross-border trade, including the northward flow of produce during the peak harvest season.
That could push up fruit and vegetable prices, possibly lead to temporary shortages, along with other consequences.
Inspection staff will be diverted to help handle the surge in the number of migrants along the border.
In recent years, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has conducted seasonal truck inspections on Sundays from February through May to ease congestion at the border, especially as more fruits and vegetables move north in late winter and early spring.
But the agency issued two notices over the past week, saying the Sunday inspections will be discontinued starting April 7.
"We'll see a huge amount of produce overwhelming the lines" starting early next week, predicted Lance Jungmeyer, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, a Nogales-based trade group promoting Mexican agricultural imports.
https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/623...t=405&fit=cropU.S. Customs and Border Protection officers check on watermelon imported from Mexico at the Mariposa Land Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona, on Aug. 9, 2017. (Photo: Nick Oza/The Republic)
Watermelons, squash and tomatoes are among the Mexican crops reaching peak harvest times right now, with grapes and other items coming in a few weeks. The impact could include a short supply of some produce and sharp fluctuations in the prices paid by consumers.
"Fresh produce is highly seasonal, so doing this now is a problem," said George Hammond, director of the economic and business research center at the University of Arizona. But manufactured imports and exports also could be affected.
Sunday truck inspections ending
President Trump has threatened to close the border unless Mexico halts a spike in the number of Central American migrants trying to cross into the U.S.
But even if the border stays open, Customs and Border Protection issued a bulletin informing truckers, shippers, brokers and other importers that March 31 would mark the final Sunday commercial-truck inspection in the Nogales area for the year.
The March 29 bulletin from the agency's Tucson office said 750 customs and border protection officers along the border, not just in the Nogales area, would be redeployed to help handle the "unprecedented humanitarian and border-security crisis." Jungmeyer estimates about 75 Nogales-area inspectors will be deployed.
https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2...unds&auto=webpHomeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen toured at the U.S.-Mexico border fence in San Diego on Nov. 20, 2018. (Photo: Nick Oza, for USA TODAY)
That was followed on April 1 with memorandum from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to Kevin McAleenan, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, directing his agency to conduct "emergency surge operations" by accelerating the planned redeployment of the 750 agents.
She also ordered him to explore ways to raise the count of redeployed officers to around 2,000, if not higher.
“The crisis at our border is worsening, and DHS will do everything in its power to end it,” Nielsen said in a prepared statement.
Longer inspection lines possible
With the change, March 24 and March 31 were the only Sunday inspections conducted this year. Usually, expanded seasonal inspections begin in February but were delayed in 2019 owing to the federal-government shutdown earlier this year, Jungmeyer said.
Inspectors might spend anywhere from about 45 minutes to four hours checking a commercial truck, looking for illicit drugs, other contraband, people trying to cross the border illegally and agricultural pests, Jungmeyer said.
https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/396...t=405&fit=cropA long line of trucks waits to be checked by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona, on Aug. 9, 2017. (Photo: Nick Oza/The Republic)
Federal officers routinely inspect about 1,000 trucks daily from Monday through Saturday, with another 100 to 200 trucks processed during what has been a half-day shift on Sundays, Jungmeyer said. While Sunday inspections aren't as busy, they have significantly helped to keep trucks moving during the busy harvest season, he added.
Sunday border crossings mainly have involved produce trucks, said Guillermo Valencia, chairman of the Greater Nogales and Santa Cruz County Port Authority. He too expects lines and wait times at the ports in Nogales to increase as the agency diverts officers to help the Border Patrol process the surge in migrant families.
Valencia, who also owns a Nogales business that helps with import and export paperwork, said he's concerned that Trump’s threat to close the border could disrupt travel between Arizona and Sonora leading up to Easter week, the busiest time of the year for such travel.
People heading north or south might not make the journey for fear of encountering long waits or a border that might be sealed entirely, he said. Easter arrives April 21 this year.
Manufactured goods also affected
While the focus is on produce because it is perishable, large volumes of electrical items, machinery and other equipment move through southern Arizona both north and south, Hammond said. Reduced inspections and increased congestion could slow this trade too, possibly stretching supply lines thin.
"These items too are designed to move pretty quickly," said Hammond, referring to just-in-time processing of automotive parts and other manufactured goods designed largely to reduce inventory costs. "That's how most manufacturing works now."
https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/623...t=405&fit=cropJorge Lopez, a trucker from Transportes Oa, unloads beer imported from Mexico at a warehouse at the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona, on Aug. 9, 2017. (Photo: Nick Oza/The Republic)
U.S. businesses exported $921 million worth of goods through Arizona to Mexico in January while importing $1.4 billion, Hammond said. Fresh Mexican produce accounted for more than one-quarter of the imports.
Yet Sunday inspections haven't been reduced at other border ports of entry, especially in California and Texas, which means Arizona could lose out as some commerce goes to other locations. That could hurt businesses in Arizona that warehouse and distribute Mexican produce to the U.S. market, said Valencia.
Officials at Customs and Border Protection didn't reply to several phone and email messages seeking comments about the new policy.
The agency already was understaffed even before halting seasonal Sunday inspections, said Jungmeyer, who estimated the agency now will be down around 200 officers in the Nogales area from what he said should be a total near 800.
Reach the reporter at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8616. Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.
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