By John Geddie, Yoshifumi Takemoto and Trevor Hunnicutt TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -When Tokyo's top trade negotiator met U.S. President Donald Trump for tariff talks at the White House earlier this month,

U.S President Donald Trump meets with Japan's Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa and his delegation in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 16, 2025. Molly Riley/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

California has surpassed Japan to become the world’s fourth-largest economy, Gov. Gavin Newsom said, as he warned of the threat posed by President Donald Trump’s tariffs to the tech powerhouse’s fast-growing wealth.

If California were its own country, its economy would now rank as the fourth largest of any nation in the globe, Gov. Gavin Newsom said this week.

California's economy has grown to overtake yet another foreign country, putting the state at the fourth-largest in the world if it were to be considered separate from the rest of the U.S.