Under the Dome: What NC elected officials are saying about Trump’s sweeping tariffs
Good morning and welcome to Under the Dome. I’m Emmy Martin. First up is a dispatch from Avi Bajpai on what we’re all talking about — tariffs.
President Donald Trump’s long-promised announcement this week of baseline tariffs on all U.S. imports and even higher levies on countries he considers bad actors when it comes to trade has prompted a flurry of concerns in Congress and in North Carolina.
N.C. Gov. Josh Stein expressed worry about the impact the sweeping tariffs could have on the state’s agricultural sector in particular, saying in a post on X that a trade war would close foreign markets to farmers.
Even before the tariffs were unveiled on Wednesday, which Trump dubbed “Liberation Day,” U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis said it was important for the administration to be precise with the tariffs it was going to implement to protect farmers that he said are “one crop away from bankruptcy.”
“We’ve got to be crisp on this implementation,” Tillis told CNN on Tuesday. “Otherwise, we could do damage that is irreparable to farmers.”
Democrats in the General Assembly put it more bluntly, with Sen. Michael Garrett of Greensboro telling reporters on Thursday that the tariffs had “scared the living fill-in-the-blank from every business owner I’ve talked to from last night until this morning.”
Garrett said he’s concerned about the impacts of tariffs on a number of industries in the state, including High Point’s furniture market as well as the textile and automotive sectors.
Compared to tariffs Trump pursued in his first term, the new tariff scheme is “unlike anything we’ve ever seen,” Garrett said.
Senate leader Phil Berger, meanwhile, said that while uncertainty about tariffs “is something that is a concern, I don’t know that there’s any consensus as to whether or not it’s good or bad.”
Berger said the tariffs or their potential impacts haven’t factored into ongoing budget negotiations between the House and Senate since they were just announced Wednesday. But he said lawmakers involved in the budget process have been monitoring “what is transpiring on all manner of things at the federal level.”
House Speaker Destin Hall also told reporters on Wednesday that budget discussions would proceed as planned, adding that lawmakers will continue to watch the national economy as “we do every year.”
— Avi Bajpai
BILL TARGETING DEI IN HIGHER ED POISED FOR FLOOR VOTE
A bill seeking to restrict diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in higher education cleared the North Carolina Senate Rules committee on Thursday — the final step before a full floor vote in the chamber.
Senate Bill 558 would restrict DEI in public universities and community colleges by prohibiting them from endorsing “divisive concepts,” a broad list of ideas that include the concept that “an individual, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive.”
The bill would also ban universities from engaging in “discriminatory practices,” which it defines as “treating an individual differently solely (due) to (an) advantage or disadvantage that individual has compared to other individuals or groups.”
Sen. Brad Overcash, a Gaston Republican and co-sponsor of the bill, said at Thursday’s hearing that DEI has “divided our campuses, it’s divided our faculty and our students, and it’s distracted us from the key goals of ensuring academic excellence, critical thinking and ensuring that we have the free exchange of ideas on our campuses.”
Democrats have opposed this bill and other efforts to restrict DEI this session.
Sen. Paul Lowe, a Forsyth Democrat, challenged Overcash to give an example in the UNC System of schools engaging in the discriminatory practices the bill seeks to ban.
“If you want to create a law, call it out,” he said. “Tell me where this is taking place and what it was. Show me an example.”
Overcash cited implicit bias training that he said veterinary students at N.C. State University were required to take. He added that psychology students at UNC Wilmington were required to take a class on the “psychology of diversity.”
“A program about bias is not inherently bad,” Sen. Julie Mayfield, a Buncombe Democrat, responded. “If anybody in this room thinks that they don’t show up in every single part of their life with bias, they’re just flat wrong. We all bring our biases to the table.”
The Senate has already passed a similar anti-DEI bill targeting K-12 public schools. Another proposal in the House to ban DEI in state government cleared the Rules Committee on Wednesday.
This week, The News & Observer published a report examining all of the anti-DEI bills being proposed this session and what impact they might have on the state if enacted.
— Kyle Ingram
STATE TREASURER LAUNCHES NEWSLETTER WITH FINANCIAL TIPS
State Treasurer Brad Briner is launching a monthly newsletter, “Financial Fridays,” today to help North Carolinians navigate their finances.
“The first edition is about ‘where to begin,’” Loretta Boniti, the State Treasurer’s director of Strategic Communications and Media Relations, said in a post on X. “There will be a little of something for everyone in here.”
The launch of the newsletter arrives right on time for the start of April — Financial Literacy Month. Each issue will break down different parts of the financial world, including investing and retirement.
Briner began as treasurer in January. Before then, he worked as an investment officer for Willett Advisors, which manages the philanthropic and personal investment assets for Mike Bloomberg.
For more about Briner, check out his Q&A with Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi from earlier this year.
NC STATE CHANCELLOR TALKS INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
N.C. State University Chancellor Randy Woodson told higher ed reporter Korie Dean that university officials were surprised to learn that two of the school’s international students lost their visas.
He said that both students were in “good standing” on campus. They left the country after President Donald Trump’s administration terminated their visas.
“We’ve not been informed in any way of why, so we don’t know,” Woodson said. “There’s no reason at N.C. State — they’re in good standing as students. We don’t have any evidence of any history of any interaction with law enforcement.”
This comes as the Trump administration has targeted international university students, especially those who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.
Dean reports that NC State enrolls the most international students of any school in the public UNC System and hosts the second-most international students of any university in the state. (Duke University and Medical Center has the most.) According to a 2024 report by the Department of State, NC State enrolled more than 3,700 international students from more than 100 countries in the 2023-24 academic year.
WHAT ELSE WE’RE WORKING ON
State public schools have lost nearly $40 million in federal COVID funds following the U.S. Department of Education’s cancellation of the aid, T. Keung Hui reports. State Superintendent Mo Green said that the funding loss “threatens the financial integrity” of school districts in Halifax, Lenoir, Richmond and Robeson counties. Green and the State Board of Education urged U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon to reverse her decision in a joint statement.
Today’s newsletter was by Emmy Martin, Avi Bajpai and Kyle Ingram. Check your inbox Sunday for more #ncpol.
Not a subscriber? Sign up on our website to receive Under the Dome in your inbox daily.
