Texas businesses on high alert over Trump’s renewed tariff threat against Mexico

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that every day a flurry of parts and products are shuttled between Texas and Mexico, part of a cross-border supply chain to make everything from cars and heavy duty machinery to flat screen televisions. The future of that partnership, built over decades, is now in question under President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and the Canada beginning Feb. 1.

While communities around the country would likely see higher prices — on everything from avocados to electronics — the stakes are particularly high for border states like Texas. In 2023, trade between Texas and Mexico exceeded $272 billion, making it the state’s largest trading partner. Canadian and Mexican officials are working to secure an agreement with the new Trump administration to avoid the tariffs, but the threat is enough to drive anxiety on both sides of the border. Trump has threatened to impose the tariffs if Mexico and Canada don’t take unspecified steps to stop the flow of migrants and illegal drugs into the United States. “The level of economic integration related to trade between the two countries is profound,” said Antonio Garza, a former Texas politician who served as U.S. ambassador to Mexico under former president George W. Bush and now works as an attorney in Mexico City. “It’s hard to find an aspect of our livelihoods that isn’t touched someway somehow, from the food we eat to the cars we drive. And the prospect of tariffs is very real.” What exactly those tariffs would look like remains unclear. Trump has talked about an across-the-board tariff, but such a move would likely drive up prices and hurt industries he wants to boost, like construction and oil and gas, whose leaders have donated to him heavily.