Xinhua News Agency, Los Angeles, April 24 (Reporter Huang Heng) California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on the 23rd that according to authoritative statistics, California's nominal GDP (GDP) in 2024 has surpassed Japan, becoming the world's fourth largest "economy".

　　The California Governor's Office issued a news briefing on the same day saying that according to the latest World Economic Outlook Report released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the 22nd and the latest GDP data of states released by the Economic Analysis Bureau of the US Department of Commerce, California's nominal GDP reached US$4.1 trillion in 2024, exceeding Japan's US$4.02 trillion. Therefore, if California is calculated as a separate "economy", it ranks fourth in the world, second only to the United States, China and Germany.

  This is a container-filled cargo ship photographed on October 29, 2021 at the Port of Los Angeles, California, USA. Xinhua News Agency
　　The notice said that California is the pillar of the U.S. economy and drives economic growth across the U.S.; California pays about $83 billion more to the federal government than it receives from the federal government; California is the most important agricultural area in the United States and the center of manufacturing output in the U.S., with more than 36,000 manufacturing companies and employs more than 1.1 million local residents.

　　Newsom announced the above achievements while re-criticizing President Donald Trump's administration's tariff policies. "Our development is threatened by the current federal government's reckless tariff policy. The California economy drives the United States forward and therefore it must be protected," he said.

　　Newsom filed a lawsuit in federal court last week, challenging the legality of Trump citing state emergency laws to raise tariffs, saying "these tariffs harm states, consumers and businesses."

　　The notice said the tariff chaos has damaged the stability of the stock and bond markets, causing losses of hundreds of billions of dollars and increasing costs for consumers and businesses. Trump's tariff policy is expected to cause the U.S. economy to shrink by $100 billion a year.

[Editor in charge: Xie Yan and Liu Zhongling]