Polis tackles tariffs, immigration at Boulder ‘State of the State’ event

BOULDER — Gov. Jared Polis made the economic case against President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs strategy during his “State of the State” address Friday at the Boulder Chamber, while reiterating that state resources won’t be spent assisting federal law enforcement agencies in broad immigration sweeps.

“I’m using my voice to speak out against federal tariffs that would cost Coloradans money. Not only would (tariffs hurt) consumers at the grocery store buying goods, but it would be a huge blow to manufacturing in Colorado,” he said. “…Much of Colorado’s manufacturing uses parts and supplies from the global supply chain. Tariffs would make it much more likely that those companies would send their manufacturing overseas rather than here.”

Trump declared a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, but has paused implementation after an uproar from leaders in the business and investment community. 

“I’m glad to see the Canada and Mexico tariffs delayed, but a month isn’t enough,” said Polis, a Democrat who has long been rumored to have ambitions for higher office when his second term finishes next year. “Business needs predictability to drive investment.”

Businesses also need workers — Colorado has more open jobs than unemployed workers, economists say — and a significant portion of Colorado’s workforce is made up of immigrants whose communities were shaken this week by raids led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Federal officials have said the raids, which centered around Aurora and Denver, were focused on arresting undocumented criminals, but advocates claim that the actions were broad sweeps meant to intimidate immigrant communities. 

“There were some federal enforcement operations just in the last few days. Those are not done in consultation with the state — they don’t brief us on those,” Polis said. “We’re always happy to help apprehend a criminal if there’s a warrant … but we want to make sure we’re not helping to go after law-abiding Coloradans who are an important part of our society and culture.”

Beyond tariffs and immigration crackdowns, Trump has vowed to slice federal funding for science and technology research. This is of particular concern in the Boulder area, a hotbed for federally funded laboratories, many of which are involved in climate research, an area of study that isn’t likely to be a priority for the Trump administration. 

With regard to “the importance of federal investments in science,” Colorado leaders “don’t know what to expect,” Polis said. 

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright “is from Colorado, which is a good thing. We hope he values the work being done” at research institutions such as National Renewable Energy Laboratory and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, he said. “It’s important to make that case to federal legislators and members of the administration in Washington.”

Polis said that Colorado government leaders will work with their federal partners when they can, and push back when they must.

“No matter what happens in Washington, we are forging our path forward here,” he said. “We will obviously work with anybody and everybody when it benefits Colorado. We won’t be afraid to stand up for Colorado when we need to.”

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