This post was guest authored by Ben Rietmann, current master’s student in the UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. 

Trade Policy Uncertainty and California Agriculture

If there’s one word to describe U.S. trade policy in 2025, it’s uncertainty. Economists now estimate that trade policy is at an all-time high, even higher than during COVID-induced supply chain disruptions in 2020-2021.

Tariffs and bilateral trade deficits

After about a month of waiting to see whether the US would slap 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and additional tariffs on China, those import tariffs are finally here, and published in the Federal Register (Canadian, Chine

Setting the Stage

The US has announced 25% import tariffs to apply on most goods coming from Canada or Mexico. It’s unclear to me how long to expect these tariffs to remain in place (update: these tariffs, due to last minute negotiations, have been postponed for at least a month)  – prior comments by the Trump administration in the past have suggested that they are a negotiation tactic, but more recent comments suggest that these may be applied over a longer term.

We are thrilled to announce the founding of the UCCE Economics Hub, a consortium between cooperative extension economists in the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) system in the Departments of Agricultural and Resource Economics at UC Berkeley and UC Davis as well as the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis.

Our primary objective is to develop a comprehensive online platform that serves as a repository and dissemination point for crucial economic information. This platform aims to: