Texas braces for impacts as Trump threatens to slap 25% tariffs on ...

Andrew Schneider/Houston Public Media

President Donald Trump’s administration could slap 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada as soon as this weekend, according to NPR.

Such moves could lead to retaliation, potentially hurting Texas more than they'll help.

That's making some Houston-area business leaders anxious. Among them is Daniel Allford, president of Houston robotics manufacturer ARC Specialties.

Allford said Friday that virtually all his business is export-dependent, and Mexico and Canada are two of his most important foreign markets.

"As long as tariffs are used as a negotiating tool and not as a financial tool, I'm all in," Allford said. "But as soon as they're actually implemented, it's the citizens of both countries that actually suffer."

Mexico is Texas' top export market, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, with Canada in second place.

Allford said he hopes Trump's threat of tariffs is just a bluff, because if it isn't, he expects those countries to strike back.

"You set a tariff, the other guys set a tariff, the only one that benefits are the governments," Allford said. "All of the citizens of both countries are punished."

Allford points to the example of a tariff the U.S. applied to foreign pickup trucks more than 60 years ago in response to tariffs France and West Germany placed on chickens.

"To this day, pickup trucks are highly priced because of what was called the ‘chicken tax,'" Allford said. "And so, everyone that buys a truck pays a $5,000 penalty for this tariff."