U.S. customs broker: Dockworkers' strike could delay shipments into Mexico
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As trucks full of mechanical equipment and produce from Mexico roll into the U.S. through the Pharr International Bridge Wednesday, dockworker strikes at seaside ports in cities like Houston and New York continue.
As a U.S. customs broker, Crispín Flores helps importers from other countries process their shipments through customs.
READ MORE: Dockworkers' strike could push up prices and cause shortages if it lasts for weeks
Flores said he’s concerned the Rio Grande Valley could pay the price for delayed products if the strikes continue.
“That delays the raw materials or components going into Mexico, where they'll be produced at a later date,” Flores said.
Those raw materials need to go to factories just across the border in Reynosa, where they’re assembled and then taken back into the U.S. as a finished product.
Luis Bazán, director of the Pharr International Bridge, said supply chains responsible for getting parts for items such as medical equipment and car parts assembled in Mexico could see a greater impact.
“We can't assume that just because it already crossed through here it's not going to affect it,” Bazán said. “But once it gets stuck at a seaport, once it gets stuck somewhere else, we can’t control that."
Channel 5 News reached out to officials with the ports of Brownsville and Harlingen. They said they are not impacted by the dockworkers’ strike as they do not receive container ships.
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