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Board hears regional briefing on potential U.S. tariffs; asks staff for county options including foreign-trade zone work
Summary
San Diego County officials received a staff briefing on possible federal tariffs and voted to ask the chief administrative officer to return with options — including use of the Foreign Trade Zone program and support for small and midsize exporters — while acknowledging uncertainty about national trade policy.
Vice Chair Lawson Reamer and the San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 28 heard a staff presentation on proposed federal tariffs and their likely effects on the regional economy, then voted to have county staff return with options to support local businesses, with Supervisor Joel Anderson recording the lone no vote.
The presentation, led by Matthew Parr, director of the Office of Economic Development and Government Affairs, and Dr. Nikia Clark of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC), described how tariffs work and noted the San Diego region’s large, binational, small-business–heavy economy. “A tariff is a tax assessed on the import of a foreign good,” Parr said, and the cost of such taxes is “either absorbed by the importer or passed on to the consumer.” Clark told the board that 98% of U.S. exporters are small businesses and that much of the county’s trade with Mexico consists of intermediate goods that cross the border multiple times in integrated supply chains.
Why it matters: San Diego’s traded clusters — life sciences, aerospace and defense, and trade-dependent manufacturing — rely on cross-border supply chains. Dr. Clark warned that rapid changes in tariff or customs rules can disproportionately harm small and midsize firms and urged local mitigation measures. Staff singled out tools such as federal Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) designation and the county’s relationships with the World Trade Center and the San Diego Port and airport as ways to ease friction if tariffs rise.
Board action: Supervisor Nathan Fletcher moved (second by Supervisor Jim Desmond) to receive the presentation and direct the chief administrative officer to return with options and assessments for how the county can support local businesses and the regional economy. The motion passed, with Anderson voting no and the other supervisors voting yes.
What staff said: Parr and Clark outlined specific near-term items to watch, including Section 321 adjustments, rules-of-origin discussions under USMCA, and retaliatory actions by trade partners. Clark said the region would update a binational trade and competitiveness study to quantify local impacts and to help advocacy. Parr explained basic tariff goals — protection, revenue, leverage — and the trade-offs that can follow, such as higher input costs and potential inflationary effects.
Next steps: The board asked the chief administrative officer to examine options the county could take to support exporters and import-dependent manufacturers, including advising firms about the FTZ program, strengthening export assistance (MetroConnect and World Trade Center services), and preparing updated binational data for advocacy. Vice Chair Lawson Reamer asked staff to return with concrete recommendations and legal/implementation options.
Public comments at the hearing ranged from support for the county’s export services to concerns about price impacts and about local environmental and public‑health issues tied to trade and infrastructure.
Ending: The board’s directive preserves flexibility: staff will study targeted county-level options while acknowledging that most tariff decisions come from the federal government and that the details of any new tariff regime (scope, exemptions, retaliatory responses) will determine the local effect.
