Newsom Says California ‘Will Not Sit Idly By’ Amid Trump’s Tariff War, Looks to Expand Trade
Gov. Gavin Newsom made it clear he is not a fan of President Trump’s new tariff plan in a video posted to X on Friday, with the California politician saying he has directed his administration to “look at new opportunities to expand trade” with other countries.
“Donald Trump’s tariffs do not represent all Americans,” Newsom said. “And on behalf of 40 million Americans that live in the great state of California — the tentpole of the U.S. economy, 14% of the U.S. GDP, the fifth-largest economy in the world, the dominant manufacturing state in America — our state of mind is around supporting stable trading relationships around the globe.”
Newsom added that California will remain a “stable partner” for its trading partners. His video came as Fox News reported Newsom had directed his state to pursue “strategic” relationships with countries in an effort to exclude California-made products from the president’s tariff plan.
The Democratic governor’s video coincided with Wall Street reeling for the second straight day after President Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariff plan on Wednesday afternoon. The new plan calls for a 10% baseline tariff on all imports and included a 54% tariff against China and 24% on Japan, among other notable U.S. trading partners. President Trump said these tariffs would be America’s “declaration of economic independence” from other countries and could help restore American manufacturing.
“April 2, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn,” President Trump said at the White House on Wednesday. “In a few moments, I will sign a historic executive order instituting reciprocal tariffs around the world. Reciprocal — that means, they do it to us, and we do it to them. Very simple, can’t get any simpler than that.”
President Trump did not seem too worried about the sell-off on Thursday afternoon. He posted a clip of himself on Truth Social, telling reporters the market and the American economy are going to “boom” soon enough. He added that several countries are looking to “make a deal” to alleviate the tariffs, after America’s trade partners have “taken advantage of us for many years.”
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