Survey: Illinois manufacturers support tariffs

SCHAUMBURG - Illinois manufacturers are warming to President Donald Trump's trade tariffs, according to a new survey from the Technology & Manufacturing Association.

A total of 59% of Illinois manufacturers agree with the tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico, up from 42% that agreed in a similar survey conducted last year.

While nearly 60% of manufacturers surveyed in July agree with the tariffs, 26% disagree, and 15% were unsure. TMA surveyed Illinois manufacturers on the same topic in June 2018. At that time only 42% agreed with the tariffs, 40% disagreed, and 18% were unsure.

"When the tariffs were first imposed, especially on steel and aluminum, the manufacturing community was concerned," said TNA President Steve Rauschenberger. "Now a year later, manufacturers are seeing that the pressure the Trump Administration put on countries like Canada, Mexico, and China, is turning out to have long-term benefits."

Dennis LaComb, TMA's vice president of government relations, added "the long-term benefits considerably outweigh the short-term impacts, and that is what will keep the resurgence of Illinois manufacturing alive for years, if not decades, to come."