r/politics • u/sweatycat New York • 20h ago

California to Negotiate Trade With Other Countries to Bypass Trump Tariffs

https://www.newsweek.com/california-newsom-trade-trump-tariffs-2055414
88.9k Upvotes

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u/wankbollox 19h ago

If Texas can ignore the federal government and make its own immigration policy, then I guess California can make its own trade policy. Seems fair. 

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u/TinFoilBeanieTech 19h ago

States setting their own trade agreements is totally unconstitutional, but we haven't been following that for a while now anyway. I'm hoping the whole west coast can form it's own trade coalition.

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u/joshhupp Washington 19h ago

Yeah, we're at the point where anything "Unconstitutional" is up for interpretation because nothing is enforced. The current administration can't even be consistent when it comes to States'rights and federal oversight. Living in WA myself I hope they follow suit.

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u/Fancy_Ad2056 19h ago

I believe the story was that Trump admired Andrew Jackson, back when he had his portrait up in the Oval Office during his first term. Andrew Jackson, famous for saying about the Supreme Court that “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!” So that thinking tracks with the way this administration is operating

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u/tomphoolery 14h ago

That remark was made after the court ruled against the forced relocation of the Cherokee, AJ then carried out the genocidal act that is now known as The Trail of Tears when they were marched from the Carolinas to Oklahoma.

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u/taylorbagel14 13h ago

That’s why Trump likes him

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u/ROOFisonFIRE_usa 1h ago

That's the example their setting and it's no surprise that is how states and citizens are responding.

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u/Politischmuck 19h ago

I'm sure it'll be selectively enforced. Texas setting their own immigration policy will still be allowed, but they'll come down hard on California for negotiating its own trade.

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u/Ohmmy_G 17h ago

With so much of the administration just ignoring judges, I wonder at what point does California just say, "yeah, we don't care what SCOTUS has to say."

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u/Atlein_069 16h ago

Hopefully immediately following any adverse ruling. SCOTUS is corrupt (we have the receipts!) and shouldn’t be followed. I’m hoping we can pass some type of law that nullifies their decisions from x period to x period. Especially ones that clearly depart from stare decisis

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u/kex I voted 16h ago

they'll come down hard

What are they going to do at this point? Nobody's enforcing anything.

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u/My_Password_Is_____ 15h ago

They're not enforcing anything because, to this point, the breaking of established rule and law has been a one way street. Only one side has been egregiously breaking the rules, and the ones in charge of enforcement are on that side. But you will see them (at least attempt) to crack down on the other side doing the same exact thing. Make no mistake, this isn't just an anarchic free-for-all, this is a fascist coup.

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u/ArmyofRiverdancers 5h ago

Bring it on, buster. 🐻🐍

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u/Significant-Dog-8166 19h ago

The new rule of law is - If you can afford millions in legal representation, then do whatever you want, then roll the dice on partisan judges.

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u/gmishaolem 18h ago

The new rule of law is - If you can afford millions in legal representation, then do whatever you want

What do you mean "new"?

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u/Felonai 19h ago

Just because it's not enforced doesn't mean it's not unconstitutional. However, I simply do not care about that right now since nobody else does, so go California.

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u/Ptricky17 17h ago

Without enforcement, laws are just suggestions.

Courts derive their power from people believing that their rulings are just. SCOTUS has become a laughing stock, and an obvious Kangaroo Court at this point. If California plays chicken with them over trade, what does enforcement even look like?

The Federal government is gutting all collective social programs that benefit states, so at this point they might as well go a step further and in addition to creating their own trade policies, just announce that they won’t take action against any company or individual that stops paying federal taxes.

At that point, what is Trump going to do? The only tool in his toolbox would be to threaten them with the power of the US military. I have much more faith in service members saying no to attacking their fellow Americans than I do to them refusing to invade Panama, Greenland, or Canada, so go for it.

Obviously this is all hypothetical, as I don’t think Newsom has the balls to go that far, but if he did - realistically what could the federal government actually do to push back against it?

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u/ConstantStatistician Michigan 7h ago

GRRM was always right. Power truly does reside where people believe it resides. 

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u/wanderlustcub I voted 6h ago

Interesting that California houses huge swaths of the US military.

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u/Ptricky17 6h ago

That could be a very good thing, or a very bad thing. It depends entirely on how indoctrinated you believe the average service member to be.

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u/wanderlustcub I voted 6h ago

I believe the military is very divided.

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u/EggsceIlent 19h ago

I'm with ya. Same state too.

Thankfully we do many things the same as our southern coast neighbor

Would be nice to see us join them in a coalition of sorts for the trade deal.

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u/Gowalkyourdogmods 16h ago

Let's do like what the tech startups and the GOP have been doing, just go for it and let the law catch up.

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u/HowManyEggs2Many 14h ago

Oh they’ll have no problem enforcing anything when it’s a blue state doing it.

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u/masamunecyrus 10h ago

NM chiming in. I'd like to include NM and CO in this bloc.

AZ is increasingly purple. We can probably make it work.

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u/AlanyzingWakeEnviron 16h ago

Hell yeah, been trying to prep myself for that same thing for months now, Washington becoming more independent. 

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u/kex I voted 16h ago

If they're going to gish gallop the courts with their bullshit, then the opposition should do the same.

They're apparently not going to stop so it's a red queen's race at this point.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Queen%27s_race

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u/RickSt3r 14h ago

That’s too much credit for Trump to understand history. He just dumbly stumbled into realization that the judiciary doesn’t actually have any power. The most powerful branch is the house as they control the money. But for the past century every legislative session has been abdicating their constitutional powers to the executive branch for various reasons.

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u/ConstantStatistician Michigan 7h ago

In practice, might has always made right.