In response to Executive Order D 2025 008, Colorado’s OEDIT, CDA, and CDLE consulted with stakeholders and found that U.S. tariff policies are creating significant challenges including business planning uncertainty, strained markets, increased material costs, and supply chain disruptions, with businesses currently absorbing these costs but eventually passing them onto consumers. OEDIT’s interviews with Colorado businesses revealed that tariffs impose overwhelmingly negative impacts through financial burdens that divert funds from R&D and salaries, create competitive disadvantages and price increases, and generate operational hurdles and planning uncertainty. Small businesses are particularly vulnerable due to thin profit margins and limited resources, forcing difficult decisions about salary reductions, layoffs, or closures, with rural communities experiencing especially severe ripple effects throughout their local economies. To address these challenges, the agencies have developed response plans focusing on direct financial support through loans and unemployment benefits, building industry and global partnerships to strengthen Colorado’s business competitiveness, and maintaining ongoing monitoring of tariff impacts with continued stakeholder engagement.
Category: Trade and International Engagement
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State Responses to Tariff Policy
Various U.S. states, the federal government, and one Canadian province have implemented tariff response initiatives to help businesses and economies adapt to trade policy challenges. Colorado, Illinois, and New York established executive orders and task forces to assess tariff impacts across key sectors and develop strategic recommendations, while Washington created a centralized resource guide to help businesses access tariff information and trade assistance.
Connecticut and Massachusetts offer more active support through supply chain initiatives that provide grants ranging from $500,000 to $5 million for onshoring activities, equipment purchases, and connecting businesses to alternative supply chains, with Massachusetts specifically targeting manufacturing sectors through technical assistance and coordination support.
The U.S. Department of Commerce implemented an Auto Tariff Offset Process offering 3.75% to 2.5% MSRP offsets for eligible U.S.-assembled vehicles to reduce reliance on foreign auto production and offset the 25% tariff on imported auto parts.
Prince Edward Island provides the most direct financial assistance through its Tariff Working Capital Assistance Program, offering loans up to $500,000 over six years at 4% interest with deferred principal payments to help manufacturers, processors, and distributors maintain operations, preserve jobs, and invest in alternative supply chain strategies while adapting to export tariff increases.
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State Actions Related to Chinese Investments
States across the country have implemented measures to respond to investments by Chinese companies.
Several states including Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and North Dakota have enacted laws prohibiting foreign adversary-controlled entities from acquiring agricultural land or property near military facilities, while Arkansas and Nebraska have introduced restrictions on state contracts with Chinese government-owned companies or foreign adversary technology providers. States like Mississippi, New Mexico, and South Carolina take a case-by-case approach, conducting thorough background checks through federal agencies like the FBI and Homeland Security before offering economic development incentives, with some states developing informal policies to decline incentives for Chinese-owned firms even without statutory requirements.
A summary of SEDE member activities is available to review here.
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Webinar: Annual International Engagement Strategy
International engagement is an important component of a state and region’s economic growth and should be a critical component in your strategic planning. The two key elements of international engagement are exporting and foreign direct investment (FDI) which are major drivers of economic growth, accounting for over 26 percent of U.S. GDP and supporting millions of good paying jobs.
Every year state economic development offices develop an international engagement strategy outlining their plan to promote exports and attract foreign direct investment. The annual strategy includes their trade missions and shows, target industries for attracting foreign investment, and other invaluable information. The strategy is a platform to enhance collaboration between state, regional and local economic development offices around their shared mission. During this webinar, state trade offices will discuss how they develop their respective annual plans and coordinate with their regional and local economic development partners.
Panelists:
- Andy Karellas – moderator
- Wisconsin
- Katy Sinnott, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation
- Barb LaMue, President & CEO of New North Inc.
- California
- Maria Onorato and Claire Gordan, California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz)
- Troels Adrian, Senior Vice President of Economic Development, Greater Sacramento Economic Council (GSEC)
You can view the recorded webinar here.
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SIDO Promotes International Engagement and Integration to County Leaders
| September 2, 2022 |
On July 21, Andy Karellas, the Executive Director of the State International Development Organizations (SIDO), moderated a panel on how county leaders can engage in international economic development at the 2022 National Association of Counties (NACo) Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado. The annual conference is the largest meeting of county officials from across the country, where over 1500 participants convened to discuss policies and best practices.
The session was part of the Community, Economic and Workforce Development Policy Steering Committee who is chaired by the Honorable Joseph Wood, from Washington County, Arkansas. The moderated panel included Commissioner Martha Schrader from Clackamas County Oregon, Commissioner Stan Vanderwerf from El Paso County Colorado, and Commissioner Kathryn Starkey from Pasco County Florida.
The commissioners shared best practices on how they promote international engagement, including promoting U.S. exports, attracting foreign direct investment, and further integrating international trade into their county and region’s broader economic development strategy.
In addition, the panel highlighted the recent work from the Center of Regional Economic Competitiveness around “Enhancing State and Local EDD Engagement to Support COVID-19 Recovery and Resilience.” Additionally, the distinguished panel provided county leaders with information and resources to better engage in international economic development, including coordinating the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies (CEDS) with their economic development districts and state, and through the USACompetes.com website.
The materials included on these State-Local Alignment webpages were prepared by the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness using Federal funds under award ED21HDQ3070060 from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.
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State Trade Directors Discuss Coordinating Economic Development Strategies with Regional Partners
| March 20, 2022 |
On March 15-17, the State International Development Organizations (SIDO) held their Washington Leadership Forum where over 40 state international trade directors convened for high level meetings with key federal officials. The session centered around our current project with the Economic Development Administration (EDA) focused on enhancing state and local EDO engagement to support Covid-19 recovery and resiliency.
The session provided some key take-aways and opportunities to strengthen the coordination between state, regional and local economic development offices, including: 1) More education is needed for state trade offices on the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) planning process and how trade can be integrated; and 2) State trade offices need more information on how to coordinate with their economic development district.
According to a live survey of over 30 state international trade directors, over 50 percent of the directors were not familiar with the CEDS plan and process overall. In addition, more than 40 percent of state trade directors do not coordinate efforts with local EDOs. There is clearly a great opportunity to continue to educate state and local leaders around these issues and to increase their engagement.
The panel session included speakers Brittany Sickler from EDA, Brett Schwartz from the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO), Marty Romitti from the Center of Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) and Jill Foys from the Northwest Commission in Pennsylvania. The session was extremely productive in educating state international trade directors on EDA’s planning process and coordination, along with how economic development offices are structured around the U.S.
The materials included on these State-Local Alignment webpages were prepared by the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness using Federal funds under award ED21HDQ3070060 from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.
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Webinar: International Trade as a Component of a State’s Economic Strategy
The recent supply chain challenges have spotlighted the central role that international trade plays in our state and local economies and the importance of developing a comprehensive international trade strategy. International trade is 12 percent of our nation’s gross domestic product and supports millions of good paying jobs.
The State International Development Organizations (SIDO), the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) and the State Economic Development Executive (SEDE) Network presented a webinar on how state international trade development offices and Economic Development Districts (EDDs) can coordinate on the development of a comprehensive international trade strategy, including promoting exports, attracting FDI, and mitigating supply chain disruptions.
Speakers:
• Andy Karellas, Executive Director, State International Development Organizations (SIDO)
• Bob Isaacson, Senior Vice President, Center for Regional and Economic Competitiveness (CREC)
• Heather Johnson, Commissioner of Maine Department of Economic and Community Development
• Barrett Haga, Senior Engagement Administrator, Economic Development Administration (EDA)
• Wade Merritt, President and State Director of International Trade, Maine International Trade Center
• Gabrielle Gerbaud, Executive Director, Trade Office and Chief Protocol Officer for the State of Minnesota
• Nicole Griensewic, Region Nine Development Commission, Mankato, MNThis was a joint SEDE/EDA webinar so attendees included an EDA audience. The Recording and slides used in the presentations are available online.
The materials above were prepared by the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness using Federal funds under award ED21HDQ3070060 from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Economic Development Administration or the U.S. Department of Commerce.