Sepulveda: Border Trade Alliance is firmly against tariffs

MISSION, Texas – The chairman of the Border Trade Alliance has made clear his group’s position on tariffs.

“We know that tariffs are not a good thing,” said Pete Sepulveda, while serving on a panel discussion during the 2025 RGV Legislative Tour hosted by the Rio Grande Valley Partnership.

Moderator of the panel discussion on trade and the economy, Glenn Hamer, president of the Texas Association of Business, asked Sepulveda for his thoughts on the best way to keep tariff-free and frictionless trade.

“Yeah, so BTA was heavily involved in the original trade agreement, which was NAFTA,” Sepulveda began. “The BTA, again, was involved in the USMCA. So, the last couple of weeks, there’s been a lot in the media regarding potential tariffs.”

Sepulveda, who is also executive director of Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority, added that the direction of where tariffs are headed is unknown.

“But at the end of the day, we know that tariffs are not a good thing,” he said. “At the end of the day, in a nutshell, tariffs will be passed on to the end user.”

He added that this would be a detriment.

“We’ve all seen what NAFTA did to the Rio Grande Valley, what USMCA has done,” Sepulveda continued. “So, we don’t want to take a step back. BTA will be at the table during the review of the USMCA and we will do whatever we can to advocate for no tariffs.”

Sepulveda reiterated that tariffs are paid by the end user.

“We don’t want to go there,” he said. “We’ve all seen, we’ve all read the benefits so we will ensure that while at the table reviewing the USMCA…  we make sure and express what the enhancements to the USMCA should be versus what tariffs will do to the agreement.”

Hamer said this is a very important issue for the region to be engaged in.

“Because every single member of the Texas Congressional delegation, from right to left, supported the USMCA,” Hamer added. “It actually was the trade agreement that passed with the most votes out of any trade agreement in the U.S. history, except actually our first one with Israel.”

The panel on trade and the economy that met as part of the 2025 RGV Legislative Tour consisted of moderator Glenn Hamer, of Texas Association of Business, Dante Galeazzi, of Texas International Produce Association, Pete Sepulveda, of Border Trade Alliance, and Rose Benavidez, of Starr County Industrial Foundation. (Photo: RGG/Steve Taylor)

The post Sepulveda: Border Trade Alliance is firmly against tariffs appeared first on Rio Grande Guardian.