“We’re still down 30% of exports to the Asia Pacific region because of the previous [trade war], so we haven’t recovered from the last time this happened.”
“There is no way in Washington state that we can cover the gap for a global tariff trade war.”
New Washington Department of Commerce Director Joe Nguyễn says Washington is still feeling the effects of earlier trade disputes and warns that renewed federal tariffs could deepen the impact on key sectors like agriculture, aerospace and clean energy.
Nguyễn said the state has not fully recovered from the last round of tariffs and remains highly exposed to global trade disruptions. He cautioned that state agencies cannot offset the scale of a national trade war, especially with thousands of exporters and farmers at risk.
A former state senator and tech executive, Nguyễn told Inside Olympia host Austin Jenkins that Commerce now oversees more than $8 billion in programs and must be more agile. “So Commerce has about 485 programs, and it’s about $8 billion that we manage. So if this was a publicly traded company, you’re talking about a Fortune 500 company,” he said.
On housing, he said record investments in the Housing Trust Fund still won’t meet the state’s growing demand. “Even with historic funding, we’re only enabling about 2% of what we need annually,” he said. Nguyễn is pitching a “Fast Track Law” to cut permitting delays in high-need areas.
Nguyễn also highlighted the potential for artificial intelligence to improve government efficiency. He described a pilot project using AI to interpret compliance rules and assist with grant administration—offering a way to reduce time-consuming bureaucracy without sacrificing accountability. He said his goal is to make government more responsive and less reactive.
He even spent his weekend building a custom chatbot to upend the way things are usually done. “We’ve essentially built a system where you’re trying to catch 1% who might cause a problem, and you punish everybody else,” he said, referencing a 1,500-page state accounting manual. The new AI app takes plain language questions and provides answers that provide guidance and what actions would comply with existing laws and regulations, which ones wouldn’t, and why.
As he nears his 100th day as director, Nguyễn is focused on reforming both internal operations and external outcomes. He emphasized the need to cut through administrative complexity and focus on measurable results—particularly in areas like housing, clean energy, and economic resilience.
Despite his progressive record, Nguyễn said urgency matters more than ideology. “If your goal is to build more housing, build more housing,” he said. “Let’s fix what’s broken—and show the public it can be done.”