2 weeks Ago By BRENDEN MOORE [email protected]
SPRINGFIELD — As he wrapped up a four-day trade mission to Mexico, Gov. JB Pritzker said he heard a consistent message from the country's business and political leaders: "The U.S.
federal government must re-establish stability and consistency in the U.S.-Mexico relationship.
" "As a former business person, I get this," said Pritzker, speaking with reporters Wednesday via web conference from Mexico City. "I understand what they're saying. You can't make decisions about where and when to invest until you have an idea of what the ground rules are.
Steady, reliable leadership will help our respective nations, our respective businesses and our peoples to flourish." Pritzker and a 70-person Illinois delegation traveled to Mexico with the mission of strengthening economic ties, especially in the agriculture, finance and manufacturing sectors. The trip came during a time of turmoil in the U.
S.-Mexican relationship, amid President Donald Trump's broader push to impose tariffs on allies and adversaries alike in a bid to boost domestic manufacturing and penalize countries for what he believes are unfair trade practices. In a social media post, Trump declared Wednesday, the day he planned to announce a new round of tariffs, as "Liberation Day.
" Originally scheduled to take effect on Feb. 1, Trump delayed the imposition of blanket 25% tariffs against Canadian and Mexican imports. In early March, he again paused tariffs on goods covered under the U.
S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. But that is expected to be lifted.
Trump has also imposed 25% tariffs on the imports of steel and aluminum. A 25% tariff on imported cars and car parts is expected to take effect this week. Pritzker, one of Trump's most pugnacious critics, has derided the tariffs as a "tax on working families.
" "They're not good for the economy, and these broad-based tariffs are very challenging and may lead, in fact, to a recession in the United States," Pritzker said. "Here in Mexico, there is deep concern." Elaborating, Pritzker said the tariffs could "destroy some businesses in Mexico that U.
S. companies rely on," such as auto parts suppliers. "So the uncertainty that we've heard over and over again in the discussions with our Mexican counterparts is going to lead to them pulling back on making investments and potentially pulling back on providing the supply items that our U.
S. businesses need," Pritzker said. "We couldn't allay those concerns, but what we could do was remind them that in Illinois, we are a stable and reliable trade partner.
.. and that when things settle down, that it will do well for them to do business with our companies in Illinois," Pritzker continued.
Pritzker, who has enacted policies aimed at attracting electric vehicle producers and parts suppliers along with supporting efforts that have led to Stellantis announcing the reopening of its Belvidere plant, acknowledged that targeted tariffs can be "useful" to boost domestic production in certain industries. But, he said they "are not something that you impose across the board," citing the price increases that could result on consumer goods like cars. Pritzker added that the "integrated" supply chain between the U.
S., Canada and Mexico also makes tariffs "nearly impossible to tally." Then there's always the specter of retaliatory tariffs on U.
S.-made products. RJ Scaringe, CEO of EV maker Rivian Automotive, told Bloomberg earlier this week that “our production footprint may be different than what we were initially planning" depending on how "the dust settles" on the latest round of tariffs.
The company currently produces all of its vehicles at its Normal plant, which it is also expanding. "I can tell you that the across-the-board taxes, the tariffs that Trump is intending to impose both on Canada and Mexico, whatever they end up being, is going to certainly have a massive negative impact on Ford," Pritzker said, referencing the auto giant's assembly plant on Chicago's South Side. "And for Stellantis, which is rebuilding and growing a plant in Belvidere, and for Rivian, which is already building cars in Normal, they will be less affected," he said.
"But I can guarantee you, there are businesses in the United States that would like to see certain kinds of targeted tariffs. But this across-the-board nature of it is going to cost the average consumer." Illinois exports to Mexico totaled $13 billion in 2024, according to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, making it the state's second-largest export market after Canada.
The state imported more than $19 billion worth of products from Mexico, making it the state's third-largest import market after Canada and China. During this week's trip, the Illinois delegation heard from Mexican manufacturing companies "who are key players in the energy supply chain" that are interested in building production facilities in Illinois, Pritzker said. Pritzker also met with site selectors to talk up the state's workforce, supply of electricity, transportation and logistics assets and its infrastructure.
Before leaving Wednesday, he said he planned to sit down with Mexican financiers and venture capitalists about investing in the state's high-tech sector. "It is part of my job as governor to be the chief marketing officer for Illinois and to pitch companies and investors on why Illinois is the best state in the U.S.
to do business in," Pritzker said. During his time in office, Pritzker has focused on building out the state's previously-sluggish economic development infrastructure. This "Team Illinois" approach has included a shift in focus within the state's economic development agencies to offer "white glove service" to businesses looking to expand or relocate to Illinois.
The state has also enacted a boosted menu of targeting incentives and tax credits to make it more competitive. Pritzker has been hands-on in the effort, perhaps more so than any governor since Jim Thompson, a Republican who served from 1977 to 1991. Pritzker said he has "made international trade missions a central part of my economic mission," noting that he has led previous missions to Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom.
Pritzker said his administration "will be working tirelessly in the coming months to track down every single lead and bring every dollar of potential investment for our communities that has resulted from this visit to Mexico." The governor and delegation of state officials and business leaders planned to return to Illinois on Wednesday. Some of those accompanying Pritzker on the trip were Lt.
Gov. Juliana Stratton, Illinois Department of Agriculture Director Jerry Costello, DCEO director Kristen Richards, Deputy Gov. Andy Manar, Intersect Illinois Chairman John Atkinson and Intersect Illinois CEO Christy George; Illinois Manufacturers Association CEO Mark Denzler; and Illinois Retail Merchants Association CEO Rob Karr.
From Central Illinois, Federico Gorbea of Archer Daniels Midland Co.; Kara Demirjian Huss of TCCI Manufacturing in Decatur; Nicole Bateman of the Economic Development Corp. of Decatur & Macon County; and Patrick Hoban of the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council were part of the delegation.
The cost of the trip to state taxpayers will not be known until delegation members fill out and submit their paperwork, said Pritzker spokesman Alex Gough..
