r/politics • u/sweatycat New York • 1d ago

California to Negotiate Trade With Other Countries to Bypass Trump Tariffs

https://www.newsweek.com/california-newsom-trade-trump-tariffs-2055414
92.0k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

6.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

26.4k

u/Archer1407 1d ago

Trump is going to launch a trade war against California in the next few days.

835

u/illuminaughty1973 1d ago

one out of every seven dollars in the usa is produced by California....

Trump has lost before he starts.... and that assuming new york, washington , and a lot of other blue states dont join.

bet Trump does not like states rights all of a sudden.

272

u/Rickbox 1d ago

I suspect the other blue states are going to see how this plays out before making a move.

288

u/CAL9k 1d ago

I could see Michigan following suit if California is successful. We are so tied to Canada in terms of energy and the automotive industry.

109

u/LordKai121 1d ago

I think Minnesota would also follow suit quite expediently.

89

u/FlyingSagittarius 1d ago

And Illinois.  There’s your economic powerhouses of the midwest right there.

19

u/ragnarocknroll 1d ago

Just northern Illinois. Leave the Iowa wannabe part out. Watch the suburbs get back 40% of the money they pay in taxes instead of supporting those counties.

I always find it funny when the counties saying they want to leave Illinois make noise, because they would be in trouble without us.

6

u/DOG_DICK__ 1d ago

Texas has a "robin hood" system for school funding, and my city sends SO much tax money to the state to distribute to other areas that fucking hate us.

5

u/twiztedterry 1d ago

I'm not in Texas, but in Utah they give all sales tax and most property tax to the schools. It lets the hillbillies and fundamentalist mormons bitch about socialism while benefitting directly from it.

3

u/VoxImperatoris 1d ago

Which they take and spend on football stadiums instead of books, because books are for libruls.

3

u/nah-42 1d ago

rural Illinois is more like southern Indiana than Iowa. That’s why the each-and-every-decade proposal of splitting illinois in half always has the map drawn as northern Indiana joining Chicagoland for the new Illinois while southern Illinois joins the rest of Indiana as the new Hoosier state.

Fuck Iowa.

3

u/Cyclonitron Minnesota 1d ago

Fuck Iowa.

Agreed. All my homies hate Iowa.

2

u/PraiseBeToScience 1d ago

It's almost like what the city could be if the suburbs didn't come in existence specifically to erode its tax base while benefitting from its existence.

7

u/AvrgSam Minnesota 1d ago

Absolutely, and we’re a solid economic cornerstone of the Midwest.

3

u/campingcritters 1d ago

I'm moving there this summer from Texas. I can't wait!

1

u/Adamclane99 1d ago

It's amazing!

1

u/BellacosePlayer South Dakota 1d ago

minnesota would probably split, with the rural western half breaking off

which isn't necessarily a downside from your perspective

1

u/LordKai121 1d ago

I'll be honest, I know very little about MN, just have a bunch of family and friends there (they have the largest Hmong population). However just from what I hear and have visited, MN sounds very similar to where I live in Central Cali.

1

u/BellacosePlayer South Dakota 1d ago

I'm right on the SD/MN border and much of Western MN is not much different than Eastern SD/ND. They even had some politicians saber rattle about cutting free and joining SD a few years ago

1

u/DarthTechnicus Wisconsin 1d ago

I have hope WI would, but it wouldn't come from the state legislature. It would have to come from the Governor which would be challenged in court and makes Tuesday's State Supreme Court victory matter even more. Granted, if we had lost the shifting of the balance would only happen August 1st, but shit, we're good til 2028 at least now.

1

u/HauntedCemetery Minnesota 1d ago edited 1d ago

MN would certainly try, but tragically our state House is no longer in pure DFL majority control, there's a 50:50 split between DFL and GOP, so our ability to do things that actually help people like we've been doing for the last few years is stunted.

Hopefully the DFL has a great midterm in 2026 and we can scrap sharing power with the morally and literally bankrupt MN GOP.

18

u/AncefAbuser 1d ago

Most of the states that border Canada and an Ocean would break off. The USA would be decimated.

16

u/Kup123 1d ago

At this point I want my country to collapse so I can get absorbed in to Canada.

12

u/Zjarrr 1d ago

I don't want to burden Canada with our morons, but I'd be cool with a nation that's a combination of Minnesota, Illinois, and Wisconsin that's allied with Canada

2

u/Kup123 1d ago

I think our idiots and water is a fare trade for their healthcare.

1

u/Zjarrr 1d ago

What do you mean water? They have a TON of fresh water

8

u/MBCnerdcore 1d ago

Nah, the real USA is the parts that don't stay with Trump

3

u/gopher_space 1d ago

Cascadia has been an idea since the 60's. Washington State has a lot more in common with B.C. and California than it does the rest of the country.

1

u/Complete-Arm6658 1d ago

I doubt Idaho, MT, or ND would though.

1

u/PenImpossible874 New York 22h ago

I hope this happens

6

u/lost-picking-flowers 1d ago

Could see the entire northeast jumping on the wagon tbh. Any state that has a governor who is not completely brainwashed or held hostage by a brainwashed state legislature. But I could see the sheer unpopularity of these tariffs even compelling red states to break with dear leader.

I remember during the early part of the pandemic when things got really bad for the first time in the northeast corridor the Trump admin deliberately withheld PPE from the states and Maryland had to bypass his admin and negotiate directly with South Korea for PPE. I feel like this admin has just been a direct continuation of the worst and most maliciously chaotic periods during the pandemic, same energy for sure.

3

u/jeexbit 1d ago

Washington won't be far behind...

3

u/DOG_DICK__ 1d ago

Much of the North Country and Western New York are tied into Canada. Culturally and economically. I grew up there so my closest major city was always Montreal.

2

u/imisstheyoop 1d ago

Yeah, people are freaking out about it here and the layoffs have already began.

I believe both California and Michigan are #1/#2 in unemployment for states currently, so will only get worse.

1

u/QuarkGuy I voted 1d ago

I know PA wouldn’t count as a “blue” state but I hope our governor gets in on it too

1

u/WordleFan88 1d ago

And passage. Those great lakes have Togo though Canada to get to sea, correct?

1

u/Noob_Al3rt 1d ago

NYC/NJ could join with CA as well

1

u/DonaldsMushroom 21h ago

this sounds like the opening sequence to a Netflix Ameripocalypse.

0

u/Piccolo60000 1d ago

Oh no you don’t, Michigan. You voted for this clown, so you’re staying put.

0

u/PringlesDuckFace 1d ago

How would this actually work though? Michigan buys the goods, then it can just turn around and sell to another state. It would require some state being able to sign an agreement with a foreign nation that prevents interstate commerce. I have to imagine that's hugely open to legal challenges.

If the goal is just to have foreign countries lower tariffs on things like avocados or whatever, then I don't know what California could offer in return since it doesn't control US tariffs.

10

u/oldnjgal 1d ago

New Jersey gets to keep all the pills.

2

u/Puffycatkibble 1d ago

Including the Jersey Shore cast? Deal!

2

u/DreamsAndSchemes New Jersey 1d ago

nah NY can have them

2

u/Eightinchnails 1d ago

My first thought too. We have pills and Indian food. We good. 

1

u/LaplaceOperator Oregon 1d ago

And Snooki.

3

u/rbrt115 1d ago

Illinois Governor Pritzker just came back from Mexico City with a trade deal. Very curious to see how this works. Will Trump retaliate with an export tax?

3

u/PatReady 1d ago

Maine has entered the chat.

2

u/LoweringPass 1d ago

Y'all are free to join the EU over here, we've got all the free trade anyone could ever want.

2

u/Adept_Artichoke7824 1d ago

What’ll be interesting is who gets pulled in either direction. Adjacent states will probably follow suit bc they are also dependent on CA’s ports. IL was the first to make its own agreement with Mexico. Socal is so intrinsically tied to Mexico that they will probably do something similar.

2

u/Opheliagonemad 1d ago

Yeah, we’re much smaller here in WA (as is Oregon) so I could believe that we’re waiting to see how California does before joining in them.

2

u/foco_runner South Dakota 1d ago

I thought I had heard Illinois doing something similar?

1

u/FrostGiant_1 1d ago

Might be better if they all moved at the same time.

1

u/Tropicaldaze1950 1d ago

Maybe winter isn't so bad. Don't want to be stuck in the idiocracy of Florida.

1

u/PadreSJ 1d ago

The easiest block would be Washington, Oregon and California.

1

u/Ddit_who_cant_quit 19h ago

I'm currently wondering if there's a way that Oregon, Washington and (possibly, if they want) Nevada could benefit from/contribute to this.

7

u/Paradigm_Reset California 1d ago

I'd rather have the states have a constitutional convention and amend the Constitution to solve these issues. There aren't enough protections against a Federal government and/or elected and appointed officials gone rogue. Turns out we need to specifically delineate what they can and cannot do (including the consequences).

However...good luck getting that organized.

So yeah, let's fight their way...dirty. Push the boundaries of law, break the ones with no teeth. Threaten. Withhold. Bombard the media to force them to constantly react. Change your mind repeatedly & claim victory each time, regardless of outcome. Fuck 'em.

1

u/PenImpossible874 New York 22h ago

We absolutely need a constitutional convention. Make secession legal.

31

u/oatseatinggoats Canada 1d ago

They should join us in the great white North. Then Trump never has to worry about pandering to them for votes ever again!

11

u/cultoftheclave 1d ago edited 1d ago

this sounds crazy but it is exactly the kind of message, played with absolute unironic seriousness, that would scare the stupid out of MAGA

5

u/diabloman8890 1d ago

Don't threaten me with a good time!

3

u/flashlightgiggles 1d ago

while I support states like California pledging allegiance to Canada, I know MY state is not switching teams. and all it would take is 1 or 2 blue states to secede and whoever is left in the UNTIED states of america is fucked.

3

u/StarHelixRookie 1d ago

Not for nothing,  it would be a bit more like the Great White North joining them.

California alone has the same population as Canada, and a larger economy and cultural influence 

1

u/tomdarch 1d ago

It's a beauty way to go...

1

u/Digitz17 1d ago

Can Michigan join? I'd rather be Canadian at this point.

9

u/treple13 1d ago

As a Canadian I'm not really supportive of any state joining us. Even the bluest states have too many Trump supporters

3

u/Digitz17 1d ago

You're not wrong there. I completely respect that.

4

u/oatseatinggoats Canada 1d ago

Eh, California would be more progressive to Canada than Alberta would, and California has a shit loud of MAGA people. An oil producing state that also has progressive views.

3

u/uluviel 1d ago

Even been to Northen California?

Parts of California are very republican. They just have populous Los Angeles and San Francisco to offset it.

3

u/VanceKelley Washington 1d ago

Yep. My guess is that if you go to any rural mainly White area of the USA you will find massive MAGA support.

The flip side is that if you go to any diverse urban area in any state you will find major opposition to trump.

The pro-fascist / pro-democracy divide in America does not nicely fall along state borders.

1

u/oatseatinggoats Canada 1d ago

Northern California is basically Alberta. So no change politically there.

1

u/IHaveNoEgrets California 1d ago

After the shit Trump pulled with the water release, the farmers in the Central Valley might not be as hardcore as they were before.

1

u/SailnGame Canada 1d ago

The "progressive" views of basically everything in the US is basically in line with everything the right leaning parties in Canada. But you are correct that they would be more progressive than Alberta.

1

u/6435683453 1d ago

Rural Alberta specifically. Provincially, at least, none of Edmonton supports that shit, and only the exurbs of Calgary does.

Frankly, Canada's problem isn't Alberta specifically. It's the maple maga belt that is dominated by rural voters in BC, Alberta, Sasktachewan and Manitoba.

1

u/Piccolo60000 1d ago

I’ve met people from Alberta. If any of them are an indication of the rest of the province, I’d say California is waaay more progressive.

1

u/Piccolo60000 1d ago

Many of them in California are actually leaving for Idaho and Montana.

1

u/6435683453 1d ago

It's not even the existence of Trump supporters. It's the fact that even the Democrats, taken as a whole, are incredibly right wing. America is a crazily conservative nation. And even the blue states would destroy Canadian culture and identity - albeit without meaning to.

We want to be their friends but we don't want to be them.

2

u/Piccolo60000 1d ago

No. Ya’ll voted Trump. Stay on your sinking ship.

0

u/Digitz17 1d ago

You do realize that not everyone voted for him, correct? I was literally trying to make a fucking joke.

3

u/jimicus United Kingdom 1d ago

Given:

  1. Most global shipping is done by sea - because sea freight is a fraction the cost of air freight.
  2. NY, NJ and CA between them account for more-or-less half of US foreign imports. If they all took the decision to say "To hell with it; we're going to negotiate our own deals" - they'd really give Trump a headache.

3

u/immortalyossarian 1d ago

I'm hoping Minnesota does this as well. Walz said he is heading up to Canada soon to speak with some of the Premiers.

2

u/thened 1d ago

Pretty much any product that is shipped from Asia ends up going through California. Good luck bypassing them and going to Texas.

2

u/HauntedCemetery Minnesota 1d ago

Trump and the gop wiped out 3 trillion dollars of American wealth just yesterday. Fucking with peoples cash is the surest way to get them to turn against you.

1

u/uluviel 1d ago

It seems like a lot of hassle to ask other countries to negotiate trade deal with all those states individually.

Maybe they could all negotiate as a whole in some sort of Union...

1

u/illuminaughty1973 1d ago

whats the hassle.... everything goes back to howit was last week, change top of document to read California instead of USA

1

u/sPLIFFtOOTH 1d ago

I always thought Trump was crazy to stop wild fire aid and went on the attack saying the Feds pay so much to California. Does he not realize that’s who’s paying Americas bills?!

1

u/ERedfieldh 1d ago

I mean, we're already seeing what he does to states that "defy" him with Maine. Never mind that our law prohibits Mills from doing what Trump is demanding, or anything like that....

1

u/matthewkulp 21h ago

They really should band together just to split the White Houses efforts up. Additionally, they'll have more to offer foreign nations and increase their odds.

Curious how this would work technically. Does it require control of the ports?

1

u/xixipinga 1d ago

how is california importing things without paying import tax at border?

2

u/illuminaughty1973 1d ago

how is california importing things without paying import tax at border?

The Port of Los Angeles: America's Port® | Port of Los Angeles

Where San Diego Greets the World | Port of San Diego

thats jjust glossing over the idea that you seem tothink theres a guy with a cash register at the land ports waiting to collect?

or overlooking the fact that 14% of the entire us economy is produced by california... so they could jjust tell washington to shove it.

1

u/xixipinga 1d ago

Federal tax autorities would charge the tax and jail californian business owners that did not comply, how can california avoid that?