Houstonians protest against President Trump's plan to build border wall

President Donald Trump is now considering a plan that would impose a 20 percent tax on imports from Mexico to pay for a southern border wall.

The consideration came Thursday after U.S.- Mexico relations reached a boiling point when Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto canceled his upcoming trip to the White House.  The announcement came a day after President Trump signed an executive order kicking off the process of building the wall, with the intent that Mexico would pay for it.

“The moment President Trump issued his executive order saying he was going to build a wall on the border and send Mexico the check, it was only a matter of time before President Nieto canceled his visit to Washington,” said Mark Jones of Rice University’s Baker Institute.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the 20 percent tax would raise about $10 billion per year.  However Jones said the tax presents far-reaching consequences for consumers and manufacturers, especially in Texas.  “We export the most to Mexico out of any state and we are also critical to the supply chain of sending goods and services to Mexico and bringing them from Mexico,” Jones said.

“Mexico is the third largest trading partner to this country, we can't afford to play Russian roulette with Mexico,” said Dr. Laura Murillo of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.