FREE
Storm inviting dogs, cats, donkeys, iguanas, gerbils to Wednesday games
Trump said cuts wouldn’t affect public safety. Then he fired hundreds of workers who help fight wildfires.
PG 02
PG 03
VISIT HEYSOCAL.COM
MONDAY, APRIL 14- APRIL 20, 2025
Newsom: Despite Trump policies, California is ‘open for business’
Tribal Nations send White House letter defending creation of Chuckwalla Monument
By Joe Taglieri
By City News Service
joet@beaconmedianews.com
T
President Donald Trump, at left, shows reporters a list of “reciprocal tariffs”; Gov. Gavin Newsom, at right, has said California remains a leader in global commerce. | Photos courtesy of the White House/Facebook and Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
C
alifornia Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday echoed an announcement he made last week touting the state’s economic prowess in response to President Donald Trump’s policies. The state’s economy is the world’s fifth-largest and will continue as a leader in global trade and investment, while the Trump economic agenda “disrupts the national economy, sends markets spiraling and creates trade wars with trusted partners,” according to the governor’s office. “California knows the importance of trust and dependability, and unlike some folks in Washington, D.C., we don’t change the rules with every presidential mood swing,” Newsom said in a statement. “California
is a trusted, reliable partner for international trade and investments. We urge countries around the globe to continue to work with us — we’re open for business.” Trump has vowed to reverse free-trade policies. “For decades, the United States slashed our trade barriers on other countries, while those nations placed massive tariffs on our products and created outrageous nonmonetary barriers to decimate our industries,” the president told reporters Monday at the White House. “They manipulated their currencies, subsidized their exports, stole our intellectual property, imposed exorbitant VAT taxes to disadvantage our products, adopted unfair rules and technical standards, and created filthy pollution
havens. This all happened with no response from the United States of America, but those days are over.” Just after midnight Wednesday, dozens of countries started facing steeper “reciprocal” tariffs from the U.S., but by Wednesday afternoon, the Trump administration said it would suspend these higher rates for 90 days, and instead maintain a recent 10% levy on nearly all imported goods. China, however, was an exception. Trump said on social media that he would increase import taxes on Chinese goods to 125% “effective immediately” — escalating retaliatory levies that have mounted between the two global economic giants. California is a power-
NO. 219
VOL. 11,
house in international trade in its own right to the tune of over $675 billion annually, which is more than 16% of the state’s total economic output, officials reported. The nation’s top exporter, California sends agricultural products for sale in markets worldwide. Manufactured goods also dominate the state’s exports, including computers, over $16 billion; aerospace parts and products, more than $8.3 billion; and semiconductor chips and equipment, nearly $6.5 billion. California is also consistently has the most U.S. jobs supported by foreign direct investment, according to Newsom’s office. The United Kingdom and Japan, respecSee Economy Page 05
he Tribal Nations of the Coachella Valley and the National Congress of American Indians sent a joint letter Thursday to White House officials defending the creation of the Chuckwalla National Monument in Riverside County, amid fears the Trump Administration may rescind its creation. “We aim to partner with the Department of the Interior on developments associated with the Chuckwalla National Monument, lending our deep expertise to ensure the area is utilized respectfully by the local community and tourists from across the globe,” the tribal officials wrote in the letter. “Out of respect for tribal sovereignty, we ask that you refrain from taking any actions associated with this area without appropriate and robust tribal consultation.” President Joe Biden declared the national monument before leaving office in January, protecting 624,270 acres of desert habitat in Riverside and Imperial counties from development. The New York Times and Washington Post both reported in mid-March that President Donald Trump was expected to rescind Biden’s action. According to the papers, the White House released a fact sheet citing numerous executive
orders rolling back actions of the Biden administration, including one “terminating proclamations declaring a million acres of new national monuments that lock up vast amounts of land that lock up economic development and energy production.” However, that item was later removed, leaving the fate of the monument in question. The Post reported that Trump also planned to rescind the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument in Northern California. Both the Chuckwalla and Sáttítla monuments were established under the Antiquities Act of 1906, and it was unclear under what legal authority Trump could roll back their designations. Thursday’s letter defending the cultural importance of the Chuckwalla monument was sent by the Ft. Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, Cahuilla Band of Indians, Colorado River Indian Tribes, Chemehuevi Indian Tribe and the National Congress of American Indians, a national intertribal government organization. “’We request the opportunity to meet with you and your staff to fully explain our position and why this designation -- and the associated protections -- are so important to our Tribal Nations,” the letter states.
OUR 2025 SUMMER CAMP GUIDE IS HERE!