Trade Talking Points (Specific to Illinois)

Illinois has a proud history of being a home to strong manufacturing, processing, and service providers and the millions of workers they employ. Illinois businesses serve hundreds of markets within (and outside of) the United States. With 95 percent of consumers living outside of the U.S., the future growth and prosperity of all of these sectors depends upon our ability to sell to foreign markets.

For several decades, many sectors of Illinois businesses have cooperated to work together, with state and national agencies, to identify growing markets, obtain market access, and to build a rules based trading system. To assure our state of a productive, competitive economic future, we must continue to work together to stay competitive and to build new market opportunities abroad.

Farm Bureau supports increased exports to efficiently utilize the productive resources of American agriculture and other industries to improve our income, economy, and tax base. Attached below are talking points as of February 2016, outlining the importance of trade to Illinois:

Why does Illinois need trade?

-Trade is essential to Illinois agriculture.

-Trade is essential to Illinois agribusiness and jobs.

Trade Talking Points Specific to Illinois