Trump’s tariffs threaten California’s agriculture industry, Treasurer Ma says
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TRUMPS TARIFFS THREATEN AGRICULTURE INDUSTRY, TREASURERS SAY
President Donald Trump’s trade war is turning the United States’ friends into enemies, California State Treasurer Fiona Ma said Wednesday, and destabilizing the state’s nearly $60 billion agricultural industry.
“We really are dependent on all of our global brothers and sisters to be able to move goods around,” Ma said. “These retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. are really creating problems for us.”
Speaking alongside treasurers from other agriculture-heavy states during a virtual press conference hosted by the consumer advocacy group Americans for Responsible Growth, Ma said the president’s tariffs are increasing prices for consumers.
In the three months Trump has been in office, he has enacted taxes on imports from most countries, most notably a 145% tax on goods from China, which state treasurers said will ultimately harm their respective agriculture industries. Ma echoed the concerns raised by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta who announced a lawsuit against Trump over the tariffs on Wednesday.
The United States is no longer a manufacturing country and we should be working with other nations, not antagonizing them, Ma said. She pointed to the number of components needed to produce electric cars as an example of the complex, interdependent nature of global trade. Vendors have already paid more for imported produce after Trump instituted a tax on goods coming from Mexico, Ma noted.
Washington State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti said a primary concern of farmers in the Northwest is that 90% of those operations use fertilizer from Canada. Trump has instated a 25% tax on most Canadian goods.
During Trump’s first administration, American soybean farmers took a hit after China shifted to Brazilian producers to avoid tariffs the president imposed. The treasurers said the escalating trade war will multiply the pain felt by these farmers.
“Farmers are being hit on both ends by Trump’s tariff taxes,” said Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs. Farmers will have to pay more for the machinery needed for operation, he said, while also finding it more difficult to sell their crops overseas.
CA FAIR PLAN POLICY CHANGE SPURS LAWSUIT
Via Stephen Hobbs…
Consumer Watchdog, the advocacy organization that has long gone toe-to-toe with the Department of Insurance, is again facing off with the state agency in a new lawsuit.
This week it sued Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, and his department, over a decision to allow companies to charge their policyholders to help prop up the California FAIR Plan, the state-created private insurance provider of last resort.
Lara earlier this year said the FAIR Plan could seek $1 billion from its members, the companies that sell property insurance in the state, in response to the Los Angeles-area wildfires. Half of that money could ultimately be covered by policyholders.
“If this change is allowed to stand, it will force California policyholders to pay hundreds of millions — and potentially billions — of dollars in unlawful surcharges,” Consumer Watchdog argues in the lawsuit. It calls on a judge to not allow insurance companies to be able to directly pass on costs related to helping out the FAIR Plan’s finances.
Gabriel Sanchez, a department spokesperson, said in a statement that the suit “undermines our efforts to enhance competitiveness across the market, which would allow people to transition from the costly and limited FAIR Plan back to the standard insurance market.”
The number of people who have turned to the FAIR Plan in recent years has grown rapidly as insurance companies have paused and cut back business in the state. That is putting a greater strain on the plan and was raising concerns about its finances before the destructive Southern California blazes.
Denni Ritter, a lobbyist for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, a national trade group, warned in a statement that not allowing companies to recover money from policyholders for aiding the FAIR Plan would “push our fragile insurance market closer to total collapse.”
A FAIR Plan spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit.
CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN CASH
Via David Lightman…
Rep. David Valadao, regarded as one of the nation’s more vulnerable Republicans, had $845,920 on hand at the end of March, new campaign finance reports showed Wednesday.
That puts the Hanford Republican close to the same financial territory as other House Republicans seen as having tough races next year. Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, had $1.3 million on hand while Rep. Young Kim, R-Anaheim, had $2.5 million.
Among Democrats, Rep. Adam Gray, D-Merced, is seen as having a close race for re-election. He reported $344,354 available.
Among Sacramento House incumbents, Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Roseville, reported $911,000 on hand.
Rep. Ami Bera, D-Sacramento, had $1.84 million available while Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, had $358,901.
Bera and Matsui are considered safe bets for re-election. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates Gray’s race a tossup. It says Kiley is a likely Republican win while races involving Calver, Kim and Valadao all lean Republican.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Our millionaire governor might not worry about gas prices while he’s chauffeured from his mansion in Marin to his podcast studio, but working people are getting crushed by the cost of his out-of-touch agenda.”
— Republican Assembly caucus leader James Gallagher, R-East Nicolaus, criticizing the governor’s energy policies after Valero announced a decision to shut down a refinery in Benicia.
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