July 2025: Tano Tijerina Dismissed The Impacts Of “So-Called Tariffs,” And When A Small Business Requested Additional Money From Tano Tijerina’s County Court To Cover Increased Costs, Tano Tijerina Said It Was “Their Fault”

July 2025: A Small Business Vendor Requested An Additional $15,000 From Webb County Court Where Tijerina Was County Judge For Portable Restroom Trailers, Citing Tariffs That Raised The Cost Of Materials

Webb County Contracted With Elk Creek Trailers LLC To Provide Portable Restrooms For Countywide Events. “Webb County is pushing back against a vendor’s request for additional funding after the company failed to deliver all of the portable restrooms purchased for countywide events. Webb County leaders addressed a request from Elk Creek Trailers LLC, the vendor contracted to provide portable restroom trailers, which asked for a $15,000 increase over the original contract price. The company cited tariffs as the reason for a recent spike in the cost of metal and other materials.” [Laredo Morning Times, 7/16/25]

July 2025: Elk Creek Trailers LLC Requested $15,000 More Than The Original Contract Price From Webb County, Citing Tariffs That Raised The Cost Of Metal And Other Materials. “Webb County is pushing back against a vendor’s request for additional funding after the company failed to deliver all of the portable restrooms purchased for countywide events. Webb County leaders addressed a request from Elk Creek Trailers LLC, the vendor contracted to provide portable restroom trailers, which asked for a $15,000 increase over the original contract price. The company cited tariffs as the reason for a recent spike in the cost of metal and other materials.” [Laredo Morning Times, 7/16/25]

• The Vendor Requested $5,000 More Per Unit For Three Of The Eight Portable Restrooms That Had Not Yet Been Delivered To Webb County. “Webb County is pushing back against a vendor’s request for additional funding after the company failed to deliver all of the portable restrooms purchased for countywide events. […] Three of the eight portable restrooms purchased had yet to be delivered, and the vendor requested $5,000 more per unit.” [Laredo Morning Times, 7/16/25]

As Webb County Judge, Tijerina Received A Request From A Restroom Vendor. “Webb County is pushing back against a vendor’s request for additional funding after the company failed to deliver all of the portable restrooms purchased for countywide events. […] Before the item was discussed, Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina — who in April called President Donald Trump’s tariffs ‘a medicine’ for fair trade as he considers a potential run as a Republican for Henry Cuellar's congressional seat — took exception to the idea of paying more for ‘so-called tariffs’ after previous delays.” [Laredo Morning Times, 7/16/25]

July 2025: Tijerina Said It Was “Not Right” For The Small Business Vendor To Charge More Money Because Of “So-Called Tariffs” When It Was “Their Fault”

July 2025: Tijerina Said The Small Business Vendor Charging More Money After Previous Delays Was “Their Fault” And Said “Blaming It On Tariffs” Was “Not Right.” “Webb County is pushing back against a vendor’s request for additional funding after the company failed to deliver all of the portable restrooms purchased for countywide events. […] Before the item was discussed, Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina — who in April called President Donald Trump’s tariffs ‘a medicine’ for fair trade as he considers a potential run as a Republican for Henry Cuellar's congressional seat — took exception to the idea of paying more for ‘so-called tariffs’ after previous delays. ‘So now because of their fault, and they’re blaming it on tariffs, because of their fault now they’re charging us $5,000 per trailer? That’s not right,’ Tijerina said. ‘It’s actually an insult to a certain point. We spent $500,000 or so many dollars with them, we go above and beyond, and now they’re charging us $15,000 more because of so-called tariffs?’” [Laredo Morning Times, 7/16/25]

• Tijerina: “Because Of Their Fault, Now They’re Charging Us $5,000 Per Trailer? I Don’t Think That’s Right.” TIJERINA: “So because of their fault. We ordered this a long time ago and the commissioner’s right. We were supposed to get this delivered in November. Because of their fault, now they’re charging us $5,000 per trailer? I don’t think that’s right.” [Webb County Commissioners Court Meeting, 01:07:48, 7/14/25] (VIDEO)

Purchasing Agent Jose Lopez Said The Vendor Provided Documentation Of Cost Increases Due To Tariffs And Said They Did Not Order Materials Sooner Because They Were A Small Business. TIJERINA: “So because of their fault. We ordered this a long time ago and the commissioner’s right. We were supposed to get this delivered in November. Because of their fault, now they’re charging us $5,000 per trailer? I don’t think that’s right.” JOSE LOPEZ: “So Judge to respond to that, I’m with the Court. I’m not happy with this. I did question them. I asked them to provide me proof of these spikes because of the tariffs. They did provide documentation, but when I saw the documentation, the documentation of the increase were way after we had ordered. So I told them why didn’t you order everything when I issued the PO, back when the Court ordered– authorized it back in October, November when we issued the PO for it? They said we’re a small company. We couldn’t do that.” [Webb County Commissioners Court Meeting, 01:07:48, 7/14/25] (VIDEO)

Tijerina Said It Was An “Insult” For The Business To Charge The County $15,000 More “Because Of So-Called Tariffs.” JOSE LOPEZ: “So Judge to respond to that, I’m with the Court. I’m not happy with this. I did question them. I asked them to provide me proof of these spikes because of the tariffs. They did provide documentation, but when I saw the documentation, the documentation of the increase were way after we had ordered. So I told them why didn’t you order everything when I issued the PO, back when the Court ordered– authorized it back in October, November when we issued the PO for it? They said we’re a small company. We couldn’t do that.” TIJERINA: “This is actually an insult to a certain point. I mean we spent $500 and some odd thousand dollars with them. We go I think above and beyond and now they’re charging us $15,000 more because of so-called tariffs.” [Webb County Commissioners Court Meeting, 01:08:00, 7/14/25] (VIDEO)

July 2025: Webb County Did Not Approve The Additional $15,000 Charge

July 2025: The Webb County Court Decided Not To Approve The Additional $15,000 Charge. “Webb County is pushing back against a vendor’s request for additional funding after the company failed to deliver all of the portable restrooms purchased for countywide events. […] The county found the vendor through the BuyBoard National Purchasing Cooperative, which was formed by governmental entities to streamline the buying process for public schools, municipalities and other governmental agencies, according to its website. The court decided not to approve the additional $15,000 charge, and Galo said they are considering flagging the company to the BuyBoard because of the added financial request.” [Laredo Morning Times, 7/16/25]