California Gov.-elect Newsom: Trump border-closing threat 'irresponsible, irrational and absurd'

If President Donald Trump follows up on his threat to close the southern border, it could potentially result in millions of dollars in losses to local businesses in regions such as San Diego County. A border closure also could disrupt thousands of truckloads of fresh produce, parts and other products that flow back and forth every day from Mexico to the U.S.

During 2017, California exported an average of $127 million per day of merchandise to Mexico, according to Lynn Reaser, chief economist for the Fermanian Business and Economic Institute at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. She said the state also imported an average of about $73 million per day of goods from south of the border.

The San Ysidro port crossing between Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego, where more than 20,000 people on foot and nearly 50,000 cars cross daily, is one of the busiest in the nation. There's also another port of entry about 8 miles east in Otay Mesa, California, where about 3,500 trucks cross daily.

California's Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom responded, tweeting: "$558 billion worth of goods flow across our America's southern border. BILLIONS of dollars — MILLIONS of jobs depend on our border. The President of the United States playing games with our economy and threatening to shut down our border is irresponsible, irrational and absurd."

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/28/ca-gov-elect-newsom-calls-trump-border-closing-threat-irresponsible.html