Trump said during the campaign that he would impose tariffs of 35% on Mexican imports and 45% on Chinese imports to protect American jobs from unfair foreign competition. Companies that import those goods would pay the tax at the border.

The Trump administration also said that this is the one possible way to pay for the wall the president wants to build on the US-Mexico border, estimated to cost $12 billion to $15 billion. "Texas' No.1 trading partner by far is Mexico, and imposing a 20% tax on Mexican imports to fund a border wall would hurt the Texas economy.

Concerns about barriers to imports are not limited to Texas businesses or to imports from Mexico, but such a tax could hit retailers the hardest, with their heavy reliance on products as varied as microwave ovens from China and T-shirts from Bangladesh.