Last weekend nationally on Fox News, Gov. Gavin Newsom ran a 30-second ad attacking President Trump’s tariffs. “California now is the fourth largest economy in the world,” said as he often has lately. “Innovation, manufacturing, agriculture. And we’ve done it by reducing trade barriers and delivering for American consumers. But the Trump administration is putting all of that at risk.”
The screen showed a CNBC quote about shipping volume plummeting 35% as “tariffs start to bite” and Business Insider is quoted how tariffs bring “even higher prices and empty shelves.”
We agree. Trump Monday announced an agreement with China suspending 145% tariffs for 90 days. But previous tariffs remain and slam Southern California hard because of our ports in Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego. Not to mention the long-term disruptions to trade as businesses struggle to adjust to the uncertainty of Trump’s erratic tariff regime.
Although Newsom is right on tariffs, we can’t let him get off from the “bite” his own policies take out of California businesses and consumers. A May 9 report by Legislative Analyst found the Golden State’s economy has been “in an extended slowdown for over two years” and consumer spending “has consistently declined.”
Except for the past four months, those declines occurred under the watch of Newsom and Democratic President Joe Biden.
Newsom himself bears major responsibility for the stagnation. He has waged war on the oil industry, bringing an average gasoline price of nearly $5, the highest in the nation, according to the Auto Club. He raised the minimum wage to $20 an hour for fast-food workers, boosting all restaurant prices 14.5%, according to a Berkeley Research Institute study. His fumbling of the state’s unemployment insurance debt has meant higher taxes for employers. And he has continued to prioritize the interests of Big Labor over workers, taxpayers and businesses.
Government intervention comes at a cost. Trump’s tariffs come at a cost, Newsom’s policies come at a cost. Both might think they are somehow helping people. But all their policies do is pick winners-and-losers and make life more expensive.
Newsom put a thumb on the scale in favor of public and private sector unions and their members. Taxpayers and consumers alike suffer the consequences of that, with the state budget under strain, higher costs everywhere and yet a continued push for higher taxes up and down the state.
Trump saw the small number of additional steel workers credit to the steel tariffs in his first term (1,000) but didn’t notice the 75,000 fewer workers in sectors negatively impacted by steel and aluminum tariffs.
Both have pursued wrongheaded policies with presumably good intentions but which have predictably bad outcomes.
Politico reported that Newsom’s ad was paid for with funds left over from Newsom’s 2022 re-election campaign. It’s obviously intended to prepare voters for his expected 2028 presidential bid. Newsom doesn’t have a leg to stand on.
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