Vella Leads House Hearing on Expected Damage of Tariffs

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Tariffs are going to hurt Illinois families and businesses. That was the message from academic and business experts at a House hearing Thursday organized by state Rep. Dave Vella, D-Rockford.

“Unambiguously, broad tariffs are a damaging tax on consumers and businesses here at home,” Vella said. “When we listen to economic experts and business leaders, it’s clear that these misguided tariffs will do long term damage and have wide downstream effects on a variety of industries. Large scale economic decisions deserve calm and careful consideration, and right now we’re not seeing that out of Washington.”

Vella chaired a joint House hearing Thursday with members from the International Relations, Tourism and Trade Committee and the Revenue and Finance Committee. Together they listened to testimony from Dr. William Ridley, a University of Illinois assistant professor with a focus on international trade, as well as Illinois Retail Merchants Association President and CEO Rob Karr and leaders from the soybean, lumber and homebuilding industries who explained what is at stake.

Thursday’s committee also heard from Cory Jobe, the Great Rivers and Routes Tourism Bureau President and CEO, who discussed concerns a trade war will hurt the state’s tourism industry.

“International visitors are some of the biggest spenders when it comes to tourism,” Vella said. “Right now, our nation’s reputation is not the best around the globe, and visitors may now feel unwelcome – especially from places like Canada. This is all unnecessary, and Washington needs to choose a better, more responsible, path forward.

“Today’s discussion was robust, and I thank the experts who joined us,” Vella said. “This should be a bipartisan issue. Let’s work together to advocate for and support Illinois consumers and businesses against unnecessary costs.”

For more information, please contact RepDaveVella@gmail.com.