Brace Yourselves, Texans: New Tariffs Set to Impact Your Budget

There's been a lot of talk lately about the tariffs that the United States is imposing on Canada and Mexico, but we're wondering how exactly it affects Texas.

Unfortunately, the news isn't good.

The tariffs were imposed this morning as of 12:01 am, and if it lasts too long, it's something that could truly affect the economy here in Texas. Not to mention, raise costs even more for us here in the state.

One of the biggest reasons is that Texas' main trade partner is Mexico. Being neighbors with them, it makes transportation of these goods easier and cheaper, so we tend to do a lot of trade with them.

Sadly, everything we were trading with Mexico is now subject to those 25% tariffs, and the ramifications of it could ultimately hurt every resident of Texas.

Groceries are already higher than they've been, possibly ever, and that's one of the things that could rise in price.

Taking a look at some of the top imports Texas receives from Mexico shows that a lot of items could rise in price as no one is going to want to pay the high tariff tax associated with transporting goods into the United States.

Just in Texas alone, $27.3 billion in items such as sound and television equipment, as well as electric machinery was shuttled into Texas from Mexico. That means the cost of a new TV, or something as small as headphones could see a jump in price.

Right behind that was the $26.2 billion in parts for vehicles, and vehicles themselves, came into the state via Mexico. So you guessed it, fixing your car or buying a new one is on the precipice of becoming more expensive.

Things such as oil and mineral fuel accounted for $12.7 billion, so the price of several types of gas could potentially be rising. Medical and surgical equipment was also a major import from Mexico into Texas, so healthcare costs could rise again, and they're already astronomical.

The longer the tariffs remain at this 25% rate, the longer we're going to have higher prices we have to pay for a lot of daily use type of stuff, and in an economy that is already struggling, it could be felt pretty hard by a lot of Texans.