8 hours ago 3

The Businessman Grateful for Trump’s Tariffs

You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.

A small company in northern Mexico had faced steep competition from China in making straps, plugs, fasteners, grommets, zip ties and clamps. Now, U.S. tariffs have driven a spike in his business.

A man in a suit jacket and blue shirt in a factory, with machines lined up behind him.

July 8, 2025Updated 8:19 a.m. ET

Jorge H. Martínez, the owner of a small Mexican company near the U.S. border, has seen how President Trump’s threats of steep tariffs have upended markets, bent geopolitics and thrown businesses into uncertainty.

He’s thrilled about it.

As much of Mexico’s business world worried over the nightmare outcomes that tariffs could cause, Mr. Martínez saw an opportunity.

“In a crisis, if you’re prepared, you win,” Mr. Martínez, 40, said as he sat in his office above the hum and clank of machines spitting out tiny plastic parts by the dozen. “Truth is, this whole thing benefited us.”

He is the chief executive of Micro Partes, which has about 50 employees in the industrial city of Monterrey. They create a tiny universe of straps, plugs, fasteners, grommets, zip ties and clamps — objects that are critical to many production lines but that most people don’t give a second thought to, if they notice them at all. The products include a hollow ring to protect cables as they pass through walls, a lid to cover the heads of the washing-machine screws, and buttons to hold advertisements on shopping carts.

Image

Some of the parts that Micro Partes makes. The company used to compete with Chinese suppliers that sold similar products at low prices.

Mr. Martínez has long faced steep competition from China, where many of these parts are made cheaply.