Daily Business Report: Monday, April 7, 2025
White House Responds to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Plan to Trade Internationally, Be Excluded From Retaliatory Tariffs
By Evan Symon | California Globe
The White House responded to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s announcement of a desired separate trade deal with other countries and for California-made products to be exempted from tariffs on Friday, publicly rebuking his plan.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump made his largest tariff announcement to date, with “Liberation Day” tariffs affecting most countries around the world. While a 10% tariff on all countries was set, other countries received higher amounts, including 20% for EU countries, 34% for China, 24% for Japan, and 47% for Vietnam. While some countries have yet to impose their own tariffs in retaliation, some already have, namely China with a 34% tariff on U.S. goods.
The latest tariffs, along with previous 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, sparked Governor Newsom to announce his own pursuit of new strategic partnerships with international trading partners Friday. In addition, he is asking for California-made products to be excluded from any retaliatory measures from other countries.
All the Ukrainian Known Knowns
Victor Davis Hanson | The Daily Signal
Aside from the rhetoric, there is a growing consensus among Western diplomats, military analysts, military officers, heads of state, and even much of the media about how to end the endless Ukrainian war.
A proposed peace will see a Demilitarized Zone established somewhere along an adjusted 1,200-mile Ukraine-Russia border. Tough negotiations will adjudicate how far east toward its original borders Russian forces will be leveraged to backstep.
Publicly in the U.S. and covertly in Europe, all accept that a depleted Ukraine will not have the military strength to retake Crimea and the Donbas.
Fight over phonics: Will California require the ‘science of reading’ in K-12 schools?
By Carolyn Jones | CalMatters
Can you spell deja vu?
The battle over the best way to teach children how to read has re-erupted in the California Legislature, as dueling factions haggle over a bill that would mandate a phonics-based style of reading curriculum.
The new bill, AB 1121, would require all schools to use a method based on the so-called “science of reading,” which emphasizes phonics. Last year, an almost identical bill died in the Assembly after pushback from the teachers union and English learner advocates, who argued that curriculum isn’t effective with students who aren’t fluent in English, and therefore shouldn’t be required.
The stakes are high, as California’s reading scores have stagnated since the pandemic. Nearly 60% of third graders weren’t reading at grade level last year, with some student groups faring even worse. More than 70% of Black and low-income students, for example, failed to meet the state’s reading standard.
