Trump's Tariff Is The Bit Of Mass Layoffs In Mexico's Border City

Residents in Mexico City/ILLUSTRATION UNSPLASH/Jezael Melgoza

JAKARTA - For 11 years, Fabiola Galicia has pursued a career at a factory that produces decorative bands in Ciudadgan, just across the border of El Paso, Texas.

Starting as a production line worker, he was finally promoted to manager who oversees 30 employees.

However, in June, his work shift was reduced to just three days a week.

Then in August, a representative from Design Group Americas, who filed for bankruptcy protection last month, closed its plant in Ciudad airing. This caused Galicia and about 300 other workers to lose their jobs.

In court documents, the company blamed the tariff imposed by US President Donald Trump for the problems they faced.

Galicia said a company representative also blamed Trump.

"They told us that tariffs have affected the company," said Galicia, whose husband also worked at the company and was dismissed.

Design Group Americas did not respond to requests for comment on the layoffs.

The assembly plant in Ciudadmen, which mostly imports duty-free raw materials from around the world and exports finished products to the US, is in crisis.

Trump's global trade war has added suffering to industries that have faced a range of challenges, including wage increases and investor concerns over reforms made by Mexico's left-handed and powerful Morena party.

Known as maquiladoras, the factories account for about 60 percent of the jobs in Ciudad Badminton. For decades, as one of Mexico's most important manufacturing hubs, the city's industrial sector has benefited in recent years as large numbers of multinational companies moved their operations to Mexico to avoid US tariffs on Chinese-produced products, a trend dubbed 'yearering'.

However, after rapid growth and employment, many factories are now reducing the number of workers and in some cases even completely closed.

Between June 2023 and June 2025, the municipality ofTEN lost more than 64,000 jobs in factories, including nearly 14,000 jobs in the first six months of this year, according to Mexico's National Institute of Statistics and Geography.

'THE ADDITION'

This mass layoff underscores the challenges faced by the Mexican economy, which relies on free trade with the US.

GDP's growth projection for 2025 has stalled below one percent as companies struggle to stay afloat amid Trump's ups and downs.

Mariaru Delgado, vice president of the MACila association INDEXmen, said the industry was in "crisis."

In addition to tariffs, he and six other business experts attribute layoffs to layoffs with a combination of various factors.

Factories experienced a decline in profit margins following the increase in the minimum wage mandated by the federal government.

The minimum wage in the northern region of Mexico has increased since 2019 from 22 pesos per hour ($1.17) to 52.48 peso ($2.80).

Then, in 2023, the former president of Mexico proposed a massive judicial reform 'to replace the appointed judge with the elected judge, which raised concerns among foreign investors and hindered investment because of threats to judicial independence. The reform was imposed this year.