Hispanic leaders are concerned Latino workers will be the first to feel the impact of President Trump's efforts to change international trade pacts, The Hill reported.
Dramatically altering those pacts would devastate many of those workers who live in states dependent on exports, The Hill reported.
Twenty-five million of the 57 million Latinos in the U.S. live in California and Texas. The economies from both states rely heavily on exports to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners, according to the website.
Citing U.S. Census Bureau figures, The Hill noted that in 2015 Texas exported $248 billion worth of goods and services. About $92 billion went to Mexico and $25 billion went to Canada. California exported $165 billion, including $27 billion to Mexico and $17 billion to Canada.
Trump's pick for commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, has already said renegotiating NAFTA will be a top priority for the new administration, The Hill noted.
"NAFTA is logically the first thing for us to deal with," Ross said.
"I am not anti-trade. I am pro trade. But I'm pro sensible trade –– not trade that is to the disadvantage of the American worker and to the American manufacturing community."
But Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., said New Mexico's economy would also be devastated by a downturn in trade.
"That would be the downfall for us not to have a really positive trade relationship, and we can do that, I think, without being harmful to American workers," she said.
NBC News reported Trump plans to sign an executive order Monday to renegotiate the NAFTA free trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
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