SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Last year California exported nearly $200 billion of goods across the world.
The biggest trade partners were Mexico, China, and Canada.
"I remind all our international trading partners, California is a stable trading partner, and we hope you consider that as it relates to California-made products,” Gov. Gavin Newsom of California said.
Newsom is inserting his voice in the middle of the trade war.
"We look forward to strengthening those ties, strengthening those bonds,” Newsom said.
Newsom's way of doing that is asking his administration to work with international trade partners to protect California’s trade.
And to see if goods made here can be exempt from the tariffs.
"I think the logistics of it could be difficult to pull off,” Kyle Handley of UC San Diego said.
Handley is a professor at UC San Diego and focuses on trade agreements and policy.
"You would have to have the customs authority in a foreign country - and it could China, it could be Korea - would have to start scrutinizing the origin of goods that were crossing their borders, and it might be difficult for them to even verify that it came from a California company,” Handley said.
Handley adds that it could lead to loopholes like out-of-state companies having a subsidiary based in the Golden State and claiming their California-based just to get the discount.
"It's interesting to begin with that Governor Newsom is engaging in some what I would call trade diplomacy here,” Lawerence Broz of UC San Diego said.
Broz is the chair of UC San Diego's political science department.
While it's the constitutional authority of the federal government to make trade policy, he thinks the goal of Newsom’s new stance could be in part to help shape the retaliation strategy of trading partners.
"Newsom may be doing this so publicly just to remind Europe of this fact, imposing a tariff on American service sector exports will hit heavily in California. And that's not particularly useful source of leverage on the Trump Administration,” Broz said.
A spokesperson for the White House told ABC 10News when we asked for a comment on Newsom’s recent comments and announcement sent the following statement, "Gavin Newsom should focus on out-of-control homelessness, crime, regulations, and unaffordability in California instead of trying his hand at international dealmaking."
