Which products made in California could be hit by Canada, Mexico tariffs? See the list
Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Thursday, March 6. Some information may now be outdated.
Billions of dollars of products made in California could be taxed under Canadian tariffs that went into effect Tuesday, with additional tariffs from Mexico expected to be announced soon.
The tariffs come as retaliation against the Trump administration’s 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico and a 20% tariff on Chinese imports.
President Donald Trump first threatened tariffs on goods coming from the United States’ three biggest trade partners in early February.
Although Trump decreed a 30-day pause on taxes for Canadian and Mexican goods in exchange for tighter border security and reduced drug trafficking, the Trump administration went through with a 10% tariff on China on Feb. 4.
On Tuesday, the Canadian and Mexican tariffs went into effect, while the China tariff doubled.
Now those countries are hitting back.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said tariffs on more than $100 billion of goods from the United States will be rolled out over the next three weeks, various media outlets reported, and China has already imposed tariffs on products including natural gas, oil and farm machinery.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico will retaliate as well.
After speaking with Sheinbaum, Trump announced Thursday that he will postpone 25% tariffs on most goods from Mexico for a month, The Associated Press reported.
The Trump administration will also delay tariffs on some Canadian goods until April 2 to support the U.S. auto manufacturing industry.
Here’s how California could be impacted.
What is a tariff?
A tariff is a tax imposed by a country’s government on certain imported products, according to the International Trade Administration.
Tariffs are paid by importers — U.S. companies — with the money going to the U.S. Treasury, according to international trade economist Matthew Cole.
Companies typically pass some costs onto consumers, resulting in higher price tags for products ranging from cars to lumber to grocery store staples, Cole previously told The Sacramento Bee.
“All consumers — California in particular — are going to face higher prices on a lot of goods,” explained Cole, an associate professor at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.
Which goods does California export to Canada?
California exported $18.4 billion dollars of goods to Canada in 2024, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
Canada is California’s second-largest export market, the federal agency said.
According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, here’s how much Canada spent on the following agricultural exports from California in 2022:
- Fruits, $1.1 billion
Wine, $438.5 million
- Nuts, $411 million
Tomatoes, $289.3 million
Lettuce, $266 million
Cauliflower, $168.6 million
- Dairy, $215.6 million
- Carrots, $80.3 million
- Flowers and nursery products, $79.7 million
- Spinach, $76.7 million
Canada purchased more than $15 billion in non-agricultural exports from California in 2024, according to the International Trade Association.
According to the trade group, these were some of the non-agricultural products imported by Canada from California in 2024:
- Processed food, $1.6 billion
- Machinery, $985 million
- Household appliances, $142 million
- Clothing, $217 million
- Paper, $111 million
Some of these items may now be subject to a 25% tariff when they cross the border into Canada.
You can find the full list of items subject to tariff on the Canadian Department of Finance website.
Which products does California export to Mexico?
California exported more than $33 billion of goods to Mexico in 2024, according to the International Trade Administration.
Though Mexico has not yet announced which products could be taxed, these were the top five exports California sent to Mexico, its No. 1 trade partner, in 2024:
- Computer and electronic products, $6.6 billion
- Transportation equipment, $3.9 billion
- Non-electrical machinery, $3.2 billion
- Electrical equipment, $2.5 billion
- Processed foods, $2.4 billion
What does California import from Canada and Mexico?
California spent $16 billion on Canadian goods in 2024, according to the International Trade Administration:
These are the top 10 products California purchased from Canada in 2024, according to the trade group:
- Oil and gas, $2.4 billion
- Milling products, $1.7 billion
- Animal slaughtering and processing, $917 million
- Bakery and tortilla products: $579 million
- Basic chemicals: $575 million
- Returned goods, $567 million
- Petroleum and coal products, $497 million
- Plastics products, $459 million
- Veneer, plywood and engineered wood, $412 million
Navigational, medical and control instruments, $360 million
California bought more than $64 billion of goods from Mexico in 2024, the International Trade Administration said.
According to the trade group, these are the 10 main products California imported from Mexico:
- Motor vehicles, $9.4 billion
- Audio and video equipment, $7.2 billion
- Fruits and tree nuts, $4.7 billion
- Motor vehicle parts, $3.9 billion
- Medical equipment and supplies, $3.1 billion
- Computer equipment, $3 billion
- Navigational, medical and control instruments, $2.5 billion
- Vegetables and melons, $2.2 billion
- Returned goods, $1.9 billion
- Electrical equipment and components, $1.6 billion
What does California trade with China?
In 2024, California exported $15 billion of products to China, according to the International Trade Administration.
That included more than $1.3 billion of agricultural products and livestock to China.
These were the top 10 items California sent across the Pacific Ocean to China in 2024, the trade group said:
- Commercial and service industry machinery, $1.5 billion
Navigational, medical and control instruments, $1.3 billion
Semiconductors and other electronic components, $1.1 billion
Pharmaceuticals and medicines, $838 million
Fruits and tree nuts, $823 million
Waste and scrap, $808 million
Industrial machinery, $805 million
Computer equipment, $593 million
Motor vehicles, $589 million
Medical equipment and supplies, $584 million
California spent more than eight times what it sold to China in 2024 on Chinese goods.
The cost of imports from China to California totaled $122.7 billion, the International Trade Administration said.
These were the state’s top imports from China, according to the trade group:
- Computer equipment, $19.8 billion
- Miscellaneous manufactured commodities, $11.9 billion
- Communications equipment, $11.3 billion
- Electrical equipment and components, $10.4 billion
- Household appliances and miscellaneous machines, $6.4 billion
- Apparel, $6.2 billion
- Plastics products, $4.7 billion
- Footwear, $4.2 billion
- Audio and video equipment, $3.5 billion
Semiconductors and other electronic components, $3.3 billion
Which California industries could be impacted by tariffs?
Farmers, ranchers and wine producers in California could be hit hardest by Trump’s new tariffs.
California exported nearly $5 billion of agricultural products alone to Canada in 2023, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
California is the largest agricultural exporter in the United States, and Canada is the state’s top agriculture market.
Fruit accounts for more than $1 billion in exports to Canada, the California Department of Food and Agriculture reported, while wine is another major California export,.
On Tuesday, Ontario premier Doug Ford retaliated against the Trump administration’s tariffs by ordering all U.S.-made alcohol products to be taken off shelves throughout the province, Global News reported.
Agricultural producers in California could also be affected by China’s retaliatory tariffs. The Asian nation said it will tax some American agricultural products, including chicken, corn and cotton, in response to U.S. tariffs, according to Newsweek.
California’s manufacturing industry could be the most at risk in terms of Mexican tariffs.
According to the International Trade Administration, the Californian manufacturing industry exported $31.3 billion of goods to Mexico in 2024. Other industries made up only $2.2 billion of California’s 2024 exports to Mexico.
This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Which products made in California could be hit by Canada, Mexico tariffs? See the list."
