EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Border business leaders say thousands of jobs in the El Paso-Juarez region could be gone if President-elect Donald Trump makes good on a threat to slap tariffs on Mexican exports. The mere threat of 25 percent tariffs on goods coming from Mexico and Canada is already having a chilling effect on new investment or expansion plans in maquiladoras in Juarez, the trade experts said. “It remains to be seen how real this is,” said Jerry Pacheco, president and CEO of the Border Industrial Association. “But announcing these things in public, even if it’s just a leverage stunt, is unhelpful because it puts the brakes on everybody investing in the area and wanting to expand. “Now, if this is real, it will have a huge impact. [….]  We have an $800 billion trade relationship with Mexico and a $770 billion trade relationship with Canada. They’re going to retaliate, and we will all go down a rabbit hole in a trade war with our most important commercial partners in North America.” Trump made the threat Monday on his social media accounts in response to what he said has been the inability of Mexico and Canada to stop migrants from illegally coming into the United States. He further threatened Mexico and China – the latter with a 10 percent tariff – for not stopping fentanyl exports to the U.S. The threats broke the stock market rally and prompted Mexico to promise swift retaliation. “President Trump, it’s not with threats nor tariffs that we will (solve) the migration phenomenon nor drug consumption in the United States.,” Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo said on Tuesday. “What is required is reciprocal cooperation and understanding of these great challenges. For every tariff, another will respond until we jeopardize common industries.” Sheinbaum said some of the largest exporters of Mexican goods to the United States are General Motors and Ford, which have operated manufacturing plants south of the border for decades. She said she had sent a letter to Trump and that her staff would call for a meeting with Trump’s transition team members. She said her office will make a public presentation later this week on how the tariffs will hurt U.S. consumers as much as Mexicans. Pacheco agreed the tariffs will hurt Americans. “The U.S. consumer will feel it in their pocketbook. The breadth of products we import from Mexico is deep: everything from agricultural products to automotive to consumer electronics. We will all be paying more for that,” he said. Pacheco said he hopes Trump is making threats to force Mexico and Canada to do more to stop migrants in transit to the U.S. and China from allowing fentanyl precursor chemicals to reach Mexico. He may also be laying the groundwork for more favorable conditions for the U.S. when it reviews the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA) in 2026. “(Trump). In the past, Trump has said many things as a candidate that do not always translate to policy. We’ll see if this is not another stunt to try to gain some leverage for future negotiations,” Pacheco said. Business leaders across the border in Juarez are not so sure Trump is just bluffing with the tariffs. Thor Salayandia, leader of the Border Entrepreneurial Bloc, said the threat is "sowing terror" among managers at Juarez automotive maquiladoras and contractors for Asian manufacturers. "These statements on tariffs are a new challenge for Juarez and other (Mexican) border cities that depend so much on maquiladoras," Salayandia said. "Trump [….] wants to repatriate industry, especially automotive, and curb the arrival of more Asian products. In Juarez, more than 70,000 workers are employed by automotive maquiladoras and another 70,000 at Asian plants. So it's about 140,000 jobs that are at risk." Elizabeth Villalobos, president of the Juarez Chamber of Commerce, said Trump's posts are contributing to a loss of value in the Mexican currency, the peso. This makes shopping in El Paso, Texas, more expensive for Juarez residents. Given that their pesos now buy them fewer dollars, this is likely to discourage Mexican shoppers from patronizing business establishments north of the Rio Grande during the holiday season.