President Donald Trump's threats to impose punishing tariffs on Canada and Mexico may be part of a strategy to gain leverage ahead of new negotiations on a regional trade agreement, experts said.

The stakes are particularly high for Texas and other border states, where trade with Mexico is worth hundreds of billions of dollars a year.

President Donald Trump has once again stirred the waters of international trade, reiterating his threat to impose tariffs on Canada unless certain conditions are met. In a bold move, Trump suggested that Canada could avoid these tariffs by becoming a state within the United States.