California
Gavin Newsom wants nations to exempt California goods from tariffs. That’s unlikely, experts say
As President Donald Trump blasts American allies and adversaries alike for “unfair trade” and sets steep tariffs, California Governor Gavin Newsom has a different message for the nations of the world.
“Donald Trump’s tariffs do not represent all Americans,” the Democrat said in a video posted on social media last week, as the stock market took a nosedive and investors coped with steep losses. “Our state of mind is around supporting stable trading relationships around the globe.”
The governor took a step further last week when he asked nations to exempt California-made products from retaliatory tariffs, which have already been announced by China and Canada, two of the state’s top trading partners.
Newsom then directed his administration, including an international trade and affairs team housed in the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, to seek out “new opportunities to expand trade” such as “strategic partnerships” to blunt the rising prices and supply-chain disruptions that he and many economists expect from Trump’s “America first” approach to trade.
Sean Randolph, senior director of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, a San Francisco think tank, said Newsom is right to take that approach for California, a state heavily reliant on international trade.
“Other countries do have a friend in California,” he said.
But as a mere governor, Newsom doesn’t have the power to make trade pacts or set tariffs, which are “the heart of the issue,” Randolph and other experts said. The governor can partner with nations to promote tourism and education and forge closer personal ties with leaders overseas, but trade policy is solely the territory of the federal government.
“What he can actually do, I think, is pretty limited,” Randolph said.
Randolph, who was California’s top trade official in the 1990s, isn’t alone in bracing for inflation and disruptions as Trump’s tariffs set in. According to Newsom’s office, the import taxes will “have an outsized impact on California businesses.”
The Golden state is the top importer of foreign goods in the U.S., $491.5 billion worth, chiefly for computer and electronic products, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. California exports totaled $183 billion last year, second to Texas’ $455 billion, with most goods destined for Mexico, Canada and China as well as other Asian markets. California shipped nearly $50 billion worth of computers and electronics, its top export, last year, the commerce agency’s data shows.
California has close trade ties with Mexico, and two-way trade reached $98 billion last year, according to the Commerce department. Mexico is a major source of agricultural products such as avocados and berries to California residents. It’s also common for goods like cars to flow back-and-forth repeatedly between Southern California and Mexico during production, Randolph said.
On Friday, a week since Newson first made his overtures to foreign nations, a spokesperson did not respond when asked if the governor’s office had made progress toward tariff carve-outs or partnerships with other nations.
Nor did a representative of the governor’s economic development office provide more detail about the kind of strategic partnerships that staff are now pursuing with international diplomats behind the scenes, or how those might soothe economic pain.
“The administration is actively engaging with our international partners and exploring opportunities to strengthen our shared economic interests,” Newsom spokesperson Tara Gallegos said in an email.
In public appearances and statements, Newsom is quick to remind audiences that California’s roughly $4.1 trillion economy is the largest in the nation and a powerhouse for tech, agriculture and manufacturing.
Even so, as a governor, Newsom can’t sign a binding trade pact with any foreign nation, per the U.S. Constitution, said Maurice Obstfeld, a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington D.C. and an economics professor at at UC Berkeley. The Commerce Clause grants Congress power “to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States.”
Despite his overtures, Newsom’s hands are tied on trade, he said.
“No country makes trade agreements with subnational regions,” Obstfeld said in an email. “The U.S. federal government has not made California a free-trade enclave.”
He called Newsom’s proclamations “grandstanding without substance.”
California is already in dozens of partnerships with foreign nations from China and Mexico to Armenia in the last decade. Many are agreements to coordinate on climate action. These partnerships can be useful, but they don’t carry the weight of law, said Russell Hancock, president of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a Bay Area think tank.
Nonetheless, Hancock applauded Newsom for reaching out to trade partners.
“Good for him, he’s making a play,” he said. “And let’s be real, he’s also positioning himself. But that’s how you do things.”
Newsom has tried to toe the line between appeasing Trump and standing apart since the Republican took office in January. The Marin County Democrat is also famously ambitious and is widely rumored to be planning a run for president in 2028.
Some of these partnerships focus on trade, including a 2019 agreement with the Mexican Ministry of Economy in 2019 “to expand trade and investment cooperation.”
But going beyond a loose agreement and actually exempting California products from tariffs, as Newsom has pleaded, is probably riskier for countries, experts said. China, for instance, is now facing total import taxes of 145%, the Trump administration said Thursday, and has responded in kind with its own steep tariffs on U.S. products.
Granting California a carve-out would probably draw the ire of Trump — risking even bigger import taxes — Obstfeld said.
“What would they even gain? Other than drawing enmity and higher tariffs from the president,” he said.
Gallegos, the spokesperson for Newsom, did not comment on this critique when asked to respond.
Economists nationally are expecting Trump’s tariffs to drive up prices on everything from homes, cars, iPhones, running shoes and coffee. With the import taxes, Trump is intending to reverse a 50-year trend of American companies off-shoring manufacturing overseas and bring more factories back home.
Beyond the tough tariffs on Chinese imports, which are critical to the U.S. tech and clean energy sectors as well as a slew of others, the Trump administration imposed a blanket 10% tariff on most nations. Trump said he rolled back even stricter tariffs this week because of stock market turmoil and anxiety.
His administration also set a 25% tariff on imported car parts — hitting the U.S. auto industry that depends on a deeply integrated supply chain with other nations — as well as steel and aluminum. Canada and Mexico are also subject to a new tariff on goods imported outside of the scope of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, signed by Trump in his first term, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that eliminated tariffs on most goods in 1994.
In response, Canada has set a 25% tax on American cars and trucks. Mexican officials have said they do not want to set tariffs in retaliation but may do so.
The Bay Area Council institute’s Randolph said it’ll take a few months at the soonest for the full effects of Trump’s toughened trade policies to materialize. But one thing looks clear already.
“We’re all going to live with higher prices,” he said.
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As the nation prepares for its 250th Independence Day celebration, a decades-long California Fourth of July fireworks tradition that has raised millions for local children’s programs is going dark this year after the California Coastal Commission rejected a final effort to keep it alive, citing environmental concerns to protect the bay.
“We’ve raised over the past 14 years $2 million for kids programs here in Long Beach,” event organizer John Morris told Fox News Digital, adding the July 3 event is fully funded by the local community.
“This community pays for everything — everything. City fees, and the city doesn’t give us a break. We pay $20,000 to the city for police and fire, which I’m fine with, because there’s 100,000 people enjoying the fireworks,” said Morris, a Long Beach resident and business owner.
Morris, who owns the Boathouse on the Bay restaurant, had planned a scaled-up fireworks display this year to mark America’s 250th Independence Day.
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Long Beach residents have enjoyed the fireworks organized by John Morris for over a decade. (Scott Varley/MediaNews Group/Torrance Daily Breeze via Getty Images)
In January, Coastal Commission staff rejected the proposal, and last week commissioners unanimously upheld that decision despite an appeal backed by local, state and federal officials.
Regulators warned Morris last year that 2025 would likely be the final year for fireworks at the event, as they continue pushing organizers to switch to drone shows they say are more environmentally friendly.
The decision stands in contrast to other approvals by the commission, including a permit granted to SeaWorld allowing up to 40 nights of fireworks.
“They get 40 nights in Mission Bay. All I’m asking for is 20 minutes — it doesn’t make any sense,” Morris said.
Morris, 78, also pushed back on the environmental concerns cited by the commission, pointing to years of testing around the event.
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Due to the lack of fireworks, Morris has decided to cancel the July 3rd celebration.
“We’ve had 10 years of environmental studies,” Morris said. “We test the water before and after the fireworks and send a robotic camera into the bay to check for debris — there’s never been any. It’s been spotless.
“We’ve also had eight years of bird reports to make sure we’re not harming wildlife. We’ve never had an issue. We’ve never been written up one time. So what is it really about?”
Joshua Smith, a spokesman for the California Coastal Commission, told Fox News Digital that permits are determined on a case-by-case basis, citing environmental concerns to “protect the bay.”
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Organizer John Morris said environmental studies are regularly conducted to measure the impact of the fireworks show on the bay. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Smith said Morris was approved for a permit to hold a drone show in lieu of fireworks. Morris told Fox News Digital such a show would cost about $200,000 — roughly four times more than traditional fireworks.
Smith confirmed that SeaWorld received a permit allowing 40 nights of fireworks. When pressed on the discrepancy, he reiterated that decisions are made individually and declined to provide further details.
Morris said the loss of the fireworks show will be felt across the community, from local businesses to families who have made the event an annual tradition.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — In the wide-open race for California governor, billionaire Tom Steyer is on a spending binge.
The hedge fund manager-turned-liberal activist is using his personal fortune to saturate TV screens and mobile phones with advertising, while his competitors accuse him of trying to use his vast wealth to buy the state’s most powerful job.
Steyer’s ads — in which he promises to bring down household costs or rails against federal immigration raids — appear inescapable at times in heavily Democratic Los Angeles, the state’s largest media market. Data compiled by advertising tracker AdImpact show Steyer has spent or booked over $115 million in ads for broadcast TV, cable and radio — nearly 30 times the amount of his nearest Democratic rival.
If he makes it through the June 2 primary election, Steyer could easily eclipse the 2010 record set by Republican Meg Whitman, who spent $178.5 million in a losing bid for governor, much of it her own money. At the time, it was the costliest campaign for statewide office in the nation’s history.
Even when ad buys from all his major competitors are combined, along with ad purchases by independent committees supporting candidates, Steyer is outspending the field by tens of millions of dollars.
“Billionaire money is flooding our state in an attempt to buy this election,” former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, one of Steyer’s chief rivals, warned her supporters this month.
Mail-in ballots are set to go out to voters next month. Steyer is among a crowd of candidates hoping to seize a spotlight after former Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell’s dramatic departure from the race following sexual assault allegations that he denies.
But while Steyer has ticked up in polling amid his spending splurge, he has not broken away from the field, leaving some wondering if he’s getting value for his dollars.
“If your first round of ads doesn’t move you dramatically (in the polls), the third, fourth, fifth, six, seventh and eighth rounds won’t either,” said veteran Democratic strategist Bill Carrick, who for years advised the late Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. “There is something inherently holding Steyer back.”
In recent prior campaigns for governor, at this stage a leading candidate was taking control of the race. This year, voters appear to be shrugging at a contest that lacks a star candidate among seven leading Democrats and two Republicans.
“Somehow the campaign is frozen,” Carrick added.
History shows that money doesn’t always translate into votes.
Billionaire developer Rick Caruso spent over $100 million in 2022 in his bid to become Los Angeles mayor, much of it his own money, but he was handily defeated by Mayor Karen Bass, who spent a fraction of Caruso’s total. Billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent more than $1 billion of his own money on his 2020 presidential bid before dropping out. And Steyer’s money was unable to lift him into contention in the 2020 presidential contest, when he dropped out early in the year after a poor finish in the South Carolina primary.
Steyer has never held elected office.
In a 2019 interview with The Associated Press, Steyer was asked what he would say to people who think he’s trying to buy the presidency.
“I don’t think that’s possible,” Steyer said at the time, before adding, “I’m never going to apologize for succeeding in business. That’s America, right?”
His campaign did not respond directly when asked about similar criticism facing his run for governor.
“Tom now stands as the only Democrat with the grassroots energy, institutional backing and resources to advance to the general election,” spokesperson Kevin Liao said in a statement.
The governor’s race was recently reordered by two developments: Swalwell, a leading Democrat, abruptly withdrew from the race then resigned from Congress, following sexual assault allegations. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump endorsed conservative commentator Steve Hilton.
Still, there is no clear leader.
Polling in late March and early April by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found a cluster of candidates in close competition: Democrats Steyer and Porter, Republicans Hilton and Chad Bianco, and Swalwell. Other candidates were trailing. The polling was conducted before Swalwell withdrew.
Democrats have feared the party’s large number of candidates could lead to them getting shut out of the general election in November. That’s because California has a primary system in which only the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party.
Leading Democrats are all claiming to have picked up support since Swalwell’s exit. Steyer nabbed one plum endorsement, when the influential California Teachers Association, which previously backed Swalwell, recommended him.
In his ads, Steyer promises to “abolish” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has been staging raids across California. In another, he laments the state’s punishing cost of housing, “Everybody needs an affordable place to live,” he says.
Rapper was stabbed 16 times by fellow inmate in May 2025 while 10-year sentence in Megan Thee Stallion shooting case
Tory Lanez has filed a $100 million lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections stemming from a May 2025 incident where the rapper was stabbed in prison.
Lanez — born Daystar Peterson and currently serving a 10-year sentence after being found guilty in the Megan Thee Stallion shooting case — also sued the warden and guards at the California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi, where the rapper was stabbed 16 times in an “unprovoked life-threatening attack” by another inmate, the lawsuit states.
Peterson was hospitalized following the May 2025 incident, suffering a collapsed lung among stab wounds to his back, torso, and head.
According to the Associated Press, the lawsuit criticized the Department of Corrections for housing Peterson with fellow inmate and alleged attacker Santino Casio, who was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder. “The choice to house Casio with Peterson was known or should have been a known danger,” the lawsuit said, adding that Tory Lanez’ “high-profile celebrity status” made him a target.
The lawsuit also said that prison guards were slow to respond to the shanking, and didn’t employ flash grenades or other measures to halt Casio’s attack.; Casio was not charged for stabbing Peterson, the Associated Press notes.
Lanez, who following his hospitalization was transferred to San Luis Obispo County’s California Men’s Colony, also alleges in the lawsuit that he never received his possessions from the California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi, including songbooks filled with lyrics to his unreleased music.
Lanez is serving a 10-year prison sentence for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot during a confrontation in the summer of 2020. He was eventually convicted on several firearms charges, including assault with a firearm, in December 2022. In November 2025, his appeal was denied by a three-judge panel, and the 10-year sentence was upheld.
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