NORTH CAROLINA -- North Carolina farm leaders are closely monitoring the president’s threat to shut down the southern border.

• The president doubled down on his call to close the border with Mexico Tuesday.
• Mexico is one of the Tar Heel State’s top trading partners, meaning any halt to trade would hit the bottom line.
• A border shutdown could be salt in the wound for farmers, many of them still recovering from Hurricane Florence.

“We view it as very serious and are just waiting to see what will happen,” said Larry Wooten, president of North Carolina Farm Bureau.

The president doubled down on his call to close the border with Mexico Tuesday. In comments to reporters, he added a new condition, saying he wants a deal with Congress to fix the immigration laws.

Wooten says Mexico is one of the Tar Heel State’s top trading partners, meaning any halt to trade would hit the bottom line.

Farmers also rely on Mexican labor to help work their fields. “Hopefully most of our farmers have their workers here, but I know there’s some that are still going for some crops particularly sweet potatoes and others, that are still waiting to get across the border,” Wooten said.

A border shutdown could be salt in the wound for farmers, many of them still recovering from Hurricane Florence. Many have also been impacted by the ongoing to trade spat between the U.S. and other countries like China.

Wooten says there is one group that may be pleased by any border shutdown: farmers that grow crops that are frequently imported from Mexico.

“If you’re a strawberry farmer in North Carolina, you may be smiling, because that could potentially cause the price of your tomatoes or strawberries, or other fruits and vegetables to increase,” he said.

For now, it remains unclear if the president will act – and if so when.