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Washington, D.C.—After President Trump threatened to close the U.S.-Mexico border, House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) is drawing attention to the potentially catastrophic impact of a border closing on America’s small business sector.

“If the President decides to take the unprecedented act of closing our Southern border, our entire economy will suffer, with our small business sector bearing the brunt of such a move,” said Chairwoman Velázquez. “Especially at a time when this Administration’s trade policies are crippling our family farmers and small business confidence is at a two-year low, closing the border would add insult to injury for many hardworking families who depend on trade with Mexico to sustain their business. I strongly urge the President to abandon the possibility of closing the Southern border, whether in coming weeks or years.”  

Chairwoman Velázquez has compiled a factsheet, showing how a border shutdown would harm small businesses. Below are a few key points: 

• As one of our largest markets for small business exports, shutting off trade exports with Mexico would be catastrophic for our small business economy. In 2016, U.S. businesses with fewer than 500 employees registered export sales to Mexico totaling over $76 billion.
• Small family farms, which comprise approximately 90 percent of all farms in the U.S., would feel the additional burden of closures. Already, farmers are disproportionally feeling the cost of retaliatory tariffs in place by Mexico.
• Shutting off the border would immediately increase prices on food at the consumer and wholesale level, dealing a crippling blow to small restaurants operating on thin margins. 
• First-generation immigrants create approximately 25 percent of all new firms in the U.S., but in some states like California and New York that figure exceeds 40 percent. Closing the border removes them from our economy and results in fewer jobs and innovative ideas.

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