Tariffs Likely To Increase Cost Of Weddings In California

Here are the morning’s top stories on Friday, May 2, 2025…

• Weddings are pricey affairs in California — and they’re about to get even more expensive. According to the National Bridal Retailers Association, about 90 percent of all wedding gowns sold in the U.S. are made in China. With 145% tariffs now being imposed on all Chinese goods coming into the U.S., that could mean big price increases for California bridal shop owners and brides-to-be. 
• Congress is moving ahead with a plan to block California’s electric vehicle mandate. 
• When Tulare Lake refilled two years ago in the middle of Kings County, two prisons narrowly avoided dangerous flooding. Now, a state audit argues those prisons were not prepared for flooding or evacuation.

Tariffs To Impact Wedding Costs

During his first few months in office, President Donald Trump has made good on campaign promises to implement tariffs. In an escalating trade war, he placed import taxes of 145% on China, which has countered with 125% tariffs on U.S. goods.

Figures released this week by the Commerce  Department show that the United States’ gross domestic product contracted at an annual rate of 0.3% in the first quarter of the year, after growing at a solid pace of 2.4% in the final months of 2024. The quarterly GDP report covers the final weeks of the Biden administration and the early months of Trump’s term, including the first rumblings of the president’s new trade war. Growth was dragged down in part by a surge of imports, as businesses and consumers raced to stock up before Trump’s sweeping tariffs took effect in early April.

Industries are struggling to adjust to this new economic landscape. That includes the wedding sector. Sandra Gonzalez owns Sparkle Bridal Couture in Sacramento. She’s also Vice President of the National Bridal Retailers Association. “Because we can’t, as small businesses, absorb the entire tariff or the entire cost, we do have to forward some of that over to our brides,” she said. “Again, we’re trying to minimize that as much as possible, but prices will go up.”

Gonzalez says retailers are in a tough spot because they can’t just avoid the tariffs by selling American-made dresses. “We can’t make the dresses that we bring in from China because we do not have the infrastructure here,” she said. Manufacturers are looking at production options outside of China, but Gonzalez said it’s going to take time.

The House Strikes A Blow Against California In A Fight Over EVs

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to undo three federal waivers that let California set strict vehicle pollution standards. On Wednesday, the House voted against two waivers involving heavy trucking, and on Thursday, it voted to reverse a state rule that would require all new vehicles in the state to be zero-emission by 2035.

Two nonpartisan government entities have advised Congress that it can’t actually reverse those waivers through the mechanism it’s using. The Senate now needs to decide whether to follow that guidance — or follow the House.

California’s standards have been described by supporters as ambitious, and by critics as unrealistic. Beginning with model year 2026, the state requires 35% of new cars sold by any given automaker to be zero-emission. Currently, about 25% of new cars sold in California are electric; the national average is closer to 10%.

State Audit Critical Of Prisons’ Preparedness For Natural Disasters

A new audit conducted by the independent Office of the Inspector General has found that few prisons have evacuation procedures in place, warning that natural disasters could put inmate lives at risk.

The authors argue that three days is reasonable to respond to a natural disaster like an earthquake, wildfire or flood. But they found that most of the state’s prisons would be unable to evacuate that quickly.

That includes Corcoran State Prison and the nearby Substance Abuse Treatment Facility in Kings County, which combined house around 8,000 inmates. After floods in 2023, officials from both prisons put together an emergency plan. They estimated evacuating could take as much as 11 to 14 days.