MAGA Sen. Ted Cruz 'hopeful' Trump's tariffs won't go into effect

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is expressing concern over President Donald Trump’s border policies as his threats of tariffs against Mexico and Canada inch closer to becoming reality.

And that could spell trouble for the Texas economy, according to Cruz. The Lone Star State has traditionally enjoyed a strong trade relationship with both Canada and Mexico, becoming the latter’s number one trading partner for over a decade – factors that appear to not be lost on Cruz.

"No state has paid the price more for the invasion over the last four years than Texas,” said Cruz, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. “That being said, trade with Mexico and Canada is enormously important to the Texas economy, and so I'm hopeful we will not see the tariffs go into effect — because Mexico and Canada will be actively assisting in securing the border."

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But Cruz still made clear he supports Trump’s MAGA agenda on immigration to reduce the flow of illegal entries into the United States and fentanyl at the border.

“The President uses tariffs for multiple purposes, one of them is as an incentive to cause other nations to work with the United States and advance our interests,” Cruz said. “With Mexico and Canada, the president has explicitly conditioned those tariffs on those two nations actively assisting and securing the border. That is incredibly important.”

Cruz’s mounting anxiety comes as Trump doubled down on his proposed 25% tariffs against Canadian and Mexican imports, now saying they would go into effect next week despite efforts by both countries to improve border security to prevent the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.

Trump's waffling has “created confusion on the timeline for the tariffs,” which were originally supposed to go into force on Feb. 4,” Politico noted Thursday.

And Cruz isn’t the only person worried about their potential impact.

“Trade and industry experts have expressed concern that the tariffs could drive up prices in the U.S., disrupting an integrated North American economy that moves everything from auto parts to cucumbers to energy across borders,” the publication added.

It could also spark a trade war with the two neighboring countries, which have both already “developed lists of U.S. goods to target for retaliatory tariffs if the U.S. duties go into effect,” Politico said.