Gavin Newsom slams Trump’s tariffs. ‘No state is poised to lose more’ than CA
Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was confident a lawsuit he and Attorney General Rob Bonta filed Wednesday to stop President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs would prevail.
Newsom and Bonta announced that the Golden State was the first state to sue the White House in federal court, arguing that the president had usurped Congress’s power to set taxes and control the budget by enacting the tolls.
Earlier this month, Trump levied a minimum 10% tax on most countries. China received as much as a 145% tax penalty, kicking off a trade war that economists predicted will inflate the prices of everything from lumber to video games.
“No state is poised to lose more than the state of California,” Newsom told reporters Wednesday from Gemperle Farms in Stanislaus County.
“So that’s our state of mind, and that’s why we’re asserting ourselves on behalf of 40 million Americans. And I imagine if you caucus those 40 million Americans, you’d find few... that are celebrating this uncertainty, that are celebrating the largest tax increase in modern U.S. history, in essence a sales tax.”
He especially condemned the impacts the tariffs would have upon the Golden State’s tent-pole agriculture and technology industries. He singled out Nvidia, which said that it had suffered a $5.5 billion loss to export its semiconductors to China.
“It’s the worst own-goal in the history of this country,” Newsom said. “One of the most self-destructive things that we’ve experienced in modern American history.”
White House spokesman Kush Desai defended the tariffs.
“Instead of focusing on California’s rampant crime, homelessness, and unaffordability,” he said, “Gavin Newsom is spending his time trying to block President Trump’s historic efforts to finally address the national emergency of our country’s persistent goods trade deficits.
“The entire Trump administration remains committed to addressing this national emergency that’s decimating America’s industries and leaving our workers behind with every tool at our disposal, from tariffs to negotiations.”
President ‘can’t do unlawful things’
Bonta, who has sued the federal government on average once a week since Trump took office 14 weeks ago, said he was confident California would prevail.
“The president can’t do unlawful things. It’s really that simple,” he said. “And (Trump) thinks he’s above the law. He’s not. He thinks he can violate the Constitution and the law, and he can’t.”
The 25-page lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern California, argues that Trump overstated his authority under the 1977 International Economic Emergency Powers Act, which allows the president to enact sanctions, freeze assets and regulate some transactions in times of national emergency.
Newsom called the lawsuit a “lock” under the major questions doctrine, under which the Supreme Court says most major regulatory authority rests with Congress. At the same time, he criticized Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans for “sitting passively” while Trump “wrecked” the economy.
“Where the hell is Congress? Where the hell is Speaker Johnson? Do your job,” he said.
“Trump’s tariffs are the single largest tax increase in our lifetime, and they’re jamming Californians with higher prices on groceries, medicine and cars,” said Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, in a statement. “We’re protecting our residents — and all American families — from unlawful economic chaos.”
Christine Gemperle said her two-person almond operation had weathered three droughts and a pandemic since she and her brother took over the business in 1998, but that the tariffs presented a “unique hardship” by threatening their relationships with overseas importers.
She plans to replant her 40-acre orchard in Ceres next fall, which may require a new sprinkler system. After Googling, she learned much of the world’s PVC piping comes from Asia, presenting a new worry.
“It’s like, oh my gosh, if that doubles or triples, can we afford it?” Gemperle said. “If I bought a sprinkler, you know, last time I redeveloped for $4 a sprinkler, if it triples, can I afford 12,000 sprinklers at $12 each?”
This story was originally published April 16, 2025 at 2:12 PM with the headline "Gavin Newsom slams Trump’s tariffs. ‘No state is poised to lose more’ than CA."
