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Avocados (Getty Images)

Tariffs on Mexican goods are getting ready to hit you right in the avocados

Here’s how Trump’s Mexico tariffs might affect your day-to-day.

3/5/25 1:12PM

The effects of the Trump administration’s new 25% across-the-board tariffs on Mexican imports will be hard to miss. Mexico is, after all, America’s largest trading partner. The US imported $506 billion worth of goods from Mexico in 2024, and Mexico imported $334 billion worth of American goods. Mexican leaders say they’re baffled by Trump’s actions and will be announcing a raft of retaliatory tariffs soon.

Yesterday we looked at a day in the life of Canadian tariffs. Today, let’s take a look at all the things you might encounter during a typical day that are likely to have been imported from Mexico.

It’s the weekend. You wake up a little groggy from your night at the pub. Nothing that a good omelette won’t fix. You whip up some eggs and chop some vegetables. That’s when you realize you are out of avocados, because their price was outrageous at the supermarket this week.

🥑 90% of avocados imported to the US come from Mexico. The US imported $3.4 billion worth in 2024.

After breakfast, you head to the marina, where you meet a friend for an outing on their boat. As you speed across the water, you think about how nice it would be to have a really nice boat of your own. But last time you looked, the prices had shot up 25%, making them further out of reach...

🚤 85% of outboard motorboats, rowboats, and canoes imported to the US came from Mexico in 2024. The US imported $568 million of these watercraft in 2024.

While out on the boat, you open your cooler and pop open a frosty beer (maybe one of Constellation Brands’ Coronas). But you only picked up a six-pack, as they have gotten so expensive recently.

🍺 83% of beer imported to the US comes from Mexico. The US imported $6.2 billion worth of beer from Mexico in 2024.

It’s getting late! You need to run to the grocery store to pick up some things for the barbecue dinner you’re hosting tonight. Hold up — when did watermelons get so expensive?!

🍉 95% of the watermelons imported to the US (between April 1 and November 30) come from Mexico. $273 million worth were imported to the US in 2024.

You hop to the other side of the produce section to grab some sweet corn to throw on the grill. Yikes! Even corn has gotten pricey.

🌽 87% of sweet corn imported to the US comes from Mexico. The US imported $78 million worth in 2024.

After the stress of trying to shop for groceries, you start making a batch of margaritas. You do a double take at your receipt from the liquor store. Tequila prices have shot up, too! Technically, tequila can only be called tequila when its made in Mexico, so there’s no way around this one.

🍹 Almost 100% of the tequila imported to the US comes from Mexico. The US imported $5.2 billion worth in 2024.

You take a sip of your cold margarita, but it tastes a little rough because you watered it down with a lot with a mixer and passed on the fresh limes.

🍋‍🟩 81% of the limes imported to the US come from Mexico. The US imported $66 million worth in 2024.

As you throw back the drink, you wonder what could be next.

Source: United States International Trade Administration.

Max Knoblauch12/17/25

Warner Bros. Discovery’s board tells shareholders to turn down Paramount’s “inadequate” hostile bid

Warner Bros. Discovery has told shareholders to reject Paramount’s hostile takeover bid, with the company releasing a statement early Wednesday urging shareholders to take the Netflix offer on the table. WBD’s board of directors said the outcome of the Netflix deal is “extraordinary by any measure.”

Paramount’s offer, in contrast, was described in the letter as “illusory,” providing “inadequate value,” and likely to impose “numerous, significant risks and costs on WBD.” The board said Paramount has “misled WBD shareholders that its proposed transaction has a ‘full backstop’ from the Ellison family,” and the board also outlined that it doesn’t believe there is a “material difference in regulatory risk between the PSKY offer and the Netflix merger.”

WBD shares dipped in the minutes leading up to the market close on Tuesday after news leaked that its management was preparing to encourage shareholders to reject Paramount’s bid, and shares of the HBO parent were down at $28.66, off 0.83% from yesterday’s close, as of 7:56 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Netflix was ticking higher, up around 1.7%, and Paramount Skydance was modestly in the red, down 1%.

Several outlets have reported that Jared Kushner’s firm would back out of the group that had been assembled to help finance the Paramount bid. Confirming this withdrawal, a spokesperson for the firm helmed by the president’s son-in-law told NBC News that “the dynamics of the investment have changed significantly since we initially became involved in October.”

Analysts this month have said that a renewed bidding war for Warner Bros. seems “inevitable” given the antitrust concerns surrounding Netflix’s potential acquisition. President Trump on Tuesday appeared to distance himself from speculation around his closeness to Paramount’s owners, posting on Truth Social, “If they are friends, I’d hate to see my enemies!”

Warner’s attempt to influence its shareholders could fuel a higher bid from Paramount in the coming weeks — shareholders currently have until January 8 to decide whether to accept the current offer.

Exclusive | Warner Preparing to Tell Shareholders to Reject Paramount Offer

Jon Keegan12/16/25

Senators open investigation into data centers’ effect on consumer utility bills

As Big Tech builds more and more massive data centers in small towns around the country, the public is starting to ask questions about whether they are to blame for rising utility bills.

Today Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent letters to the CEOs of some of the biggest builders of data centers: Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, CoreWeave, Digital Realty, and Equinix.

The senators wrote:

“Utility companies have spent billions of dollars updating the electrical grid to accommodate the unprecedented energy demands of AI data centers and appear to recoup the costs by raising residential utility bills. Through these utility price increases, American families bankroll the electricity costs of trillion-dollar tech companies.”

Electricity prices in the US are indeed up, rising 6.2% since last year. A recent Bloomberg analysis found that ratepayers within 50 miles of data centers saw rates increase up to 276% over the past five years.

The companies have until January 12, 2026, to respond to the senators.

Senator Warren, Lawmakers Open Investigation into Big Tech Data Centers’ Role in Driving Up Families’ Utility Costs | U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts

The senators wrote:

“Utility companies have spent billions of dollars updating the electrical grid to accommodate the unprecedented energy demands of AI data centers and appear to recoup the costs by raising residential utility bills. Through these utility price increases, American families bankroll the electricity costs of trillion-dollar tech companies.”

The companies have until January 12, 2026, to respond to the senators.

Hyunsoo Rim12/11/25

TIME names the “Architects of AI” as its Person of the Year for 2025

TIME just announced its Person of the Year… and it’s not a single person.

The magazine selected the “Architects of AI” as its 2025 honoree, spotlighting the executives and engineers behind the year’s AI boom. One of the two covers features eight tech leaders perched on a steel beam — recreating the iconic “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper” photo from 1932 — including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, AMD’s Lisa Su, xAI’s Elon Musk, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the center, whose chips power many of today’s AI models.

Why the Architects of AI Are TIME’s 2025 Person of the Year

Western Auctioneer with Two Fingers up and Gavel in Hand

As investors pick sides in Netflix vs. Paramount, analysts say a renewed Warner Bros. bidding war looks inevitable

Analysts at Bloomberg on Wednesday said Paramount’s WBD hostile takeover offer could go as high as $35 per share.

Max Knoblauch12/10/25

The Netflix-Warner Bros. deal now faces a wall of opposition

Netflix will owe Warner Bros. $5.8 billion in cash if the deal is terminated on antitrust grounds.

Max Knoblauch12/5/25