Politics

Pritzker to Trump: Don’t Force Illinois Farmers to ‘Pick Up the Tab’ for Iran War

Illinois farmers should “not be forced to pick up the tab” for the war in Iran, which has caused the price of fertilizer to “skyrocket,” Gov. JB Pritzker told President Donald Trump in the latest of a series of blistering letters.

The U.S.-Israel war against Iran began six months ago Friday, with Trump telling the American people the conflict would only last “a few weeks.” However, a lasting agreement to end the hostilities has proven elusive, despite the president’s repeated claims of victory.

Illinois corn farmers who rely on nitrogen-based fertilizers are paying the price, Pritzker told Trump.

“Your war and your tariffs are squeezing Illinois farmers with higher costs they cannot control and never asked for,” Pritzker wrote. “They should not be forced to pick up the tab for your decisions.”

Read the full letter.

The cost per ton of nitrogen-based fertilizer has jumped 36% since April, according to economists with the University of Illinois, the governor said.

“You have repeatedly promised to lower costs for American farmers,” Pritzker wrote. “Instead, your unlawful war raised the price of one of the most important products farmers buy and just about every other input through your illegal tariffs.”

Pritzker, who is running for a third term as Illinois governor, has declined to rule out a run for president in 2028. He has emerged as a vocal critic of the president on nearly every front.

With the midterm elections a little more than two months away, Pritzker and other Democratic leaders have seized on this issue to highlight persistent inflation and growing concerns about the affordability of groceries, gas and other items.

More expensive fertilizer means more expensive food for all Illinoisians, Pritzker said.

Pritzker urged Trump to immediately extend an emergency declaration he signed June 29 that allowed urea, urea ammonium nitrate, anhydrous ammonia and ammonium sulfate to enter the United States without charging federal import taxes. In addition, phosphate fertilizer from Morocco should be allowed to enter the country free of import taxes until June 2027, the governor wrote.

Hours after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the president’s tariffs in February, Pritzker demanded that the Trump administration refund the $8.7 billion he said Illinois residents had paid in tariffs.

Pritzker renewed that demand in a separate letter to congressional leaders asking them to pass a bill requiring the amount paid in tariffs to be refunded, with interest, in 180 days “prioritizing the small businesses that have been hit the hardest and have the fewest resources to navigate a complex refund process on their own,” Pritzker wrote.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]

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