How Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico could impact San Diego
Good Morning, I’m Katie Hyson, in for Debbie Cruz….it’s Monday, December 2nd.>>>>
President elect Donald Trump intends to roll out new tariffs on his first day in office.More on how that could impact San Diego next. But first... let’s do the headlines….
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The Regional Task Force on Homelessness is hosting its annual conference.
The two-day event is sold out and begins tomorrow (Tuesday) at Hilton San Diego Bayfront.
Elected officials and homeless service providers are expected to attend.
The taskforce says the focus of the event is the Regional Action Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness in San Diego.
The goal of that plan is to create a shared vision on how to end homelessness in San Diego County.
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Just as Black Friday and Cyber Monday are days for shopping, Giving Tuesday is a day for generosity.
The San Diego Foundation connects donors to nonprofit partners to support the most critical needs facing San Diegans.
Cami (Cam-mee) Mattson (Matt-son) is the senior director of philanthropic strategy. She describes their current campaign.
GIVINGTUES 2A “In our 50 and forward campaign, we are specializing in education because we know that's of critical importance, children and families. Which could be around mental health, basic needs and the environment, being able to preserve the integrity and resources of our community.”
In the past year, 82 percent of the foundation's grant funds, totaling $94 million dollars, went to San Diego County nonprofits.
To learn more about local organizations you can donate to on giving Tuesday, go to S-D-foundation dot org.
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This coming Saturday is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. The date marks 83 years since the surprise attack in O’ahu.
Here in San Diego, the Midway Museum is hosting a ceremony on the ship to commemorate that day.
The event will include a wreath-laying to honor service members lost in the attack and a flyover.
The ceremony is open to the public and will take place on the flight deck.
Attendees must be on board by 9-20 a.m.
Following the ceremony, attendees will get free admission to the Midway.
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From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now.Stay with me for more of the local news you need.
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President-elect Donald Trump will take office in less than two months, and he’s already promising broad tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
They are the U-S’s two biggest trading partners.
Reporter Alexander Nguyen says since San Diego is close to the border, the local economy could be hard hit.
TARIFF 1 (an) TRT: 01:11 SOQ
Every day, millions of dollars of goods flow through the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. These trucks carry everything from fresh produce to car parts to manufactured goods.Trump recently announced on Truth Social that he would impose a 25 percent tariff on Canada and Mexico on his first day in office. “Expect the cost of guacamole to go up.” Peter Cowhey (COW-ie) is a trade policy expert at UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy. He says as a state, California imports about 500 million dollars worth of fruits and vegetables from Mexico each year. So tariffs could push up prices at grocery stores and restaurants. “The cost of making food is extremely high in terms of imports of things like fruits, vegetables and other imports. And they’ll show up directly on menus.” Cowhey (COW-ie) says the tariff is essentially a 25 percent tax on the consumer. And that could lead to inflation. The question now is whether Trump can impose the tariffs. It would violate the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, an agreement that Trump negotiated in 20-18. Alexander Nguyen, KPBS
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Judicial reform is a hot topic in Mexico these days. Most recently, Mexico announced plans to stop appointing federal judges and have them be elected. Reporter Gustavo Solis says a University of San Diego law school program will play a key role in training the new judges.
MEXJUDGES (gas) 4:16 SOQ
“Usted le a dado lugos a s esposa?” You are listening to a mock trial at the University of San Diego’s School of Law. A lawyer is cross-examining a witness. “Usted le pago classes? Me permite leerlo?” The lecture hall isn’t filled with your typical students. They’re all Mexican judges visiting San Diego for a week-long legal seminar. For years, USD has offered workshops to lawyers and judges from Latin America. Karen Sigmond is the assistant dean of international programs. She says legal professionals often need training whenever their home countries enact significant changes to their judicial systems. “For example, in Chile 30 years ago they started with oral trials because of everything that the country was going through. Soon after, Argentina started with oral trials, Mexico started to look at what was happening in the rest of Latin America and looked north at what we were doing and what other models were doing.” Before switching to oral trials like the ones we have in the U.S., those Latin American countries used written trials. “Everything is done through documents, through petitions, through paperwork. The person in trial does not really see the judge. They just read a file and make a determination.” That shift has come to Mexico which is why these state judges from Baja California are visiting San Diego. But there is an even bigger change on the horizon for Mexico’s judicial system. Earlier this year, the then-President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador introduced a series of controversial reforms. Among other things, they make the job of federal judge an elected position. The changes will take effect next year. “Para que los Jueces administrados y ministors del poder judicial sean electos. Por el pueblo.” Supporters say it increases transparency, but opponents believe it erodes the independence of Mexico’s legal system. Judge Salvador Juan Ortiz Morales has a philosophical view of the reforms. “Para mi, los cambios son inebitables, son parte de la vida, y son retos. Son retos para valora.” Change is an inevitable part of life, he says. But this one comes with big challenges. As a state judge, Ortiz Morales is not directly impacted by the federal reforms. But, he believes that Baja California and other states will follow suit. “Creiamos que era una forma en que se habia logrado una estabilidad sin embargo ahora temenos que esperar como se desarolla esta nueva tipo de eleccion.” He’s worried about the lack of job stability that comes with elections. And given that uncertainty, he wonders whether Mexico’s best young lawyers would want to invest the decades of work required to become a federal judge. Ana Carolina Valencia Marquez is another participant. She says the judicial reforms will have a huge impact but civil servants must respect the will of the people. “Hay que acceptar los efectos de los acontesimientos y un acontesimiento es la reforma judicial y estamos hasta el ultimo dia dar lo mejor de si.” She says judges will need to accept the changes. And USD is ready to help. Again, here is Sigmond. “USD is uniquely positioned because of our expertise, because of language, because of geography and most importantly because we have friends in Mexico and we believe this is a learning process for them, a learning process for us.” She says staff is already coming up with workshops specifically for the judicial reforms. The training could involve insight from California judges who must campaign for their jobs. But for now, they are focused on helping with the current transition from written trials to oral trials in the state legal system. Valentina Marquez says the change from written to oral trials has been daunting but worthwhile. “Suena simple pero es un cambio de 360 grados porque anteriormente todo el Sistema es escrito, tradicional.” She believes they will make the system more transparent, a welcome change. Gustavo Solis, KPBS News.
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This election saw the passage of several state propositions. In our “Why It Matters” segment, Scott Lewis from Voice of San Diego explains the impacts of one of them.
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Proposition 36 got the most “yes” votes of any proposition on the California ballot. It will make punishment harsher for theft and drug crimes. It won support from more than 68 percent of voters. Much of that support came because of promises prosecutors made that it would take care of people suffering from drug addiction. Here was Pat Espinoza, chief deputy district attorney at our Politifest debate. “We want you to be treated for the underlying cause … It's your choice.” This sounds good. More than 3100 people have died from overdoses in the last five years in San Diego. There’s just one problem: Treatment beds are not available. San Diego County has just 78 detox beds for the more than 1 million residents here who rely on Medi-Cal. And now two new laws are going to increase demand: proposition 36, plus SB 43, the new state law that will allow police and family members to force people into treatment if they are a danger to themselves. The county is racing to provide more beds. It is going to add 21 by the end of the year. And there are plans for dozens more by next year. I’m Scott Lewis with Voice of San Diego and that’s Why it matters.
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Some of the insects that eat our crops have grown resistant to pesticides. Reporter Thomas Fudge spoke to some UC San Diego scientists. They are trying to solve the problem by creating a new pest population.
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After many generations of being sprayed with pesticides, the bugs that eat our crops have evolved to be resistant to the deadly compounds. But now, scientists at UCSD can engineer new bugs, of the same species, that are susceptible to pesticides. And they can easily pass on their traits when they breed with drug resistant insects. Ethan Bier is a geneticist at UCSD. “So if you can make the insects sensitive to it again then you can just keep on using the same pesticides we already have that work but at much lower frequency and much lower doses.” Bier says this process can create a local population of bugs that is entirely non-pesticide resistant within 8 generations. He says the genetic drive that eliminates the resistant mutations will ultimately disappear from the population. Then the bugs would become no different from the ones we knew, prior to insecticides. “And that’s all that’s left is what you want, which was the way it used to be. Bier says environmental regulations must be reviewed before they put any of the engineered bugs in the real world. Thomas Fudge, KPBS News.
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The holidays can be stressful on everyone, but service members and their families can face extra challenges. Reporter Andrew Dyer spoke with two nonprofits about what’s being done to help.
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Marines fresh out of boot camp gather at the airport USO for free snacks, drinks and a place to await the bus to Camp Pendleton. Ramiro Favela manages the center and says they’re always looking for people to donate things like snacks and personal hygiene products. “Gift cards are also another great way to support the USO. So again, anywhere from like Costco, Vons, Safeway, anywhere they could get us, you know, more supplies that will really help us out as well.” Support The Enlisted Project, or STEP, is a San Diego-based nonprofit focused on helping younger, junior enlisted service members. Co-founder and CEO Tony Teravainen says he’s seen more military families under strain. “I think more families are feeling more financial pressure. There was a big jump, you know, inflationary jump these last two years and everybody kind of felt the sting.” This year, STEP provided about 450 families with Thanksgiving meal kits. Over the next month, Teravainen expects they’ll provide food and toys to about 250 more. Andrew Dyer, KPBS News.
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That’s it for the podcast today. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org.
I’m Katie Hyson, in for Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
