Establishing California trade offices in countries around the globe is an old idea whose time has come again. The practice of opening and maintaining foreign trade offices was not uncommon for more than twenty years, beginning in the 1980’s. Eventually, the State budget cut funding for these offices in 2003, and most were closed.

According to a recent Los Angeles Times article, state studies criticized such offices for failing to produce desired economic benefits, noting that political issues and constituent requests, rather than a comprehensive trade policy, were often behind their establishment.