California leaders might be pushing back on Trump’s tariffs, but there’s a limit to how much influence the state can have on international trade.
The state is involved in more international trade than most — it received the second most foreign investment in 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
“The economy here in California is so diverse, which is a wonderful thing, but it also means that these tariffs have a potential to impact across the board,” California Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President for International Affairs Susanne Stirling said.
Governor Gavin Newsom is pushing back against the tariffs — he recently announced the state is suing the Trump administration over them, and he also called on trade partners to exempt California products from retaliatory tariffs.
But Stirling said there’s a limit to what the state can do.
“We are not a nation, cannot negotiate ourselves, but the US government certainly can negotiate free trade agreements,” she said.
Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis — the state’s top trade representative — said that doesn’t make Newsom’s request an empty one.
“For instance, if India, the largest importer of California almonds, decides that as part of their retaliation, they’re not going to include almonds, that’s something that could help support California exporters,” she said.
Kounalakis added it’s difficult to know what the impact of the tariffs ultimately will be on the state economy, but stresses it will be hit hard — California’s high output means it has more to lose when other countries retaliate against President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“It’s so unpredictable,” she said. “But what we can predict, and I really want to be clear about this, is that costs of imported goods are going to go up.”
She added that because the federal tariffs are so new and have changed since Trump announced them, it’s hard to know the full impact.
Susanne Stirling with the California Chamber of Commerce agrees.
“It is difficult to get some you know credible numbers. There's no doubt about it,” she said. “But I'm afraid that as time goes on the impact will really sink in certainly as far as agriculture is concerned.”
Stirling also said Californians with low incomes are likely to feel the biggest impact of the tariffs.
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