Harlingen restaurant feels uncertainty of tariffs

HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The back-and-forth tariff talks from President Donald Trump have been off and on for a week, and one of Harlingen's longest-running restaurants is experiencing the uncertainty.

Las Cazuelas sits in the heart of downtown Harlingen and has been serving its community for decades. Due to the uncertainty of tariffs, manager Michelle Medrano says it does bring some anxiety.

President Trump announced tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and Canada, but those have been on pause since last week. President Trump says he plans to bring them back soon.

"It worries us a lot," said Medrano. "We try our best not to raise the prices or to move too much of them around."

One of its most popular menu items is tacos, which Medrano says is common for customers to pair with avocados.

"It's a day-to-day thing that we have to buy," said Medrano. "I have my dad going to all sorts of produce places just to pick up a few."

A price tag Medrano says has gone up to almost $1.50 per avocado. Las Cazuelas goes through 3-4 dozen weekly. That is hundreds of dollars monthly just in avocados.

"We do have the salsa verde that we do make from scratch with avocados," said Medrano.

Meanwhile, Medrano says her team's priority is to make sure customers continue to walk in through the door, even if that means being more strategic when shopping for produce like avocados, just one thing that may be affected by the tariffs.

"Family, this is my family's place so I'll take care of it as much as I can," said Medrano.

Medrano says it did raise its breakfast prices not too long ago and she feels like that has created some wiggle room for its business with these on-and-off tariffs.

President Trump is not ruling out a possible recession, even as he defends his recent use of tariffs.

On Monday, China is imposing tariffs on major agricultural products from the U.S., including chicken, pork, corn and soybeans. This comes as the U.S. moves closer to the possibility of another partial government shutdown.