In the debate around a U.S. border tax, much attention has focused on the howls of anguish from big American retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Consumer companies are among the biggest importers in the U.S., so they’re naturally concerned about anything that would penalize profit. Proportion of big U.S. exporters that are foreign-owned: More than 25% Donald Trump’s officials say they understand the worries, which may explain the doubts about whether he supports the border tax plan as envisioned by the Republican House leadership. Still, the president said in a speech on Tuesday night that he remains determined to “create a level playing field for American companies”, so some kind of change seems probable. One thing that’s been a sideshow to the domestic lobbying is the problem any measures imposed on imports might cause non-U.S. companies. As the chart below shows, large foreign manufacturers and suppliers from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. and Ikea to Heineken NV and Daimler AG’s Mercedes make up a big part of U.S. imports—as you’d expect. The data in the chart isn’t perfect because it’s based on ocean cargo containers, so it doesn’t reflect value or goods transported in other ways. But it’s still a rough guide to where the damage might lie. One quirk, though, is that foreign companies often do a lot of exporting from the U.S. too. And for some of these, it means that punitive action against imports might be offset by rewards for exporters: luxury carmaker BMW seems the standout example. So even for foreigners, there might well be border tax winners as well as losers. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.