CHICAGO – Today, Governor JB Pritzker sent a follow-up letter to President Donald Trump demanding that his administration provide direct relief to Illinois working families as some of the nation’s largest and wealthiest corporations receive billions of dollars in refunds. Illinois families, who were forced to pay higher prices because of the President’s unlawful tariffs, have yet to receive anything.
The letter comes 165 days after Gov. Pritzker sent President Trump an invoice for $8,679,261,600—equivalent to $1,700 for each of Illinois’ 5,105,448 households—to account for the higher costs imposed on Illinois families by the Trump Administration’s tariffs.
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“There is no portal to request a refund for a mother in Rockford buying groceries for her children,” Governor JB Pritzker wrote. “There is no trade attorney representing a retiree in Carbondale paying off their mortgage. There is no check coming in for the farmer in Champaign who had to pay more for his equipment. The invoice remains unpaid, and Illinois families are still waiting for their cut.”
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that many of the tariffs were unlawful, the U.S. Treasury has returned nearly half of the $166 billion collected from Americans. While some of the country’s largest and wealthiest corporations have received significant refunds, the Trump Administration has provided no comparable relief to working families. However, in the last quarter:
- Apple received an estimated $2.2 billion;
- Amazon received approximately $600 million;
- General Motors received $500 million;
- Nike received $300 million and is expected to receive nearly $1 billion this year.
Meanwhile, Illinois families have received $0.
In his letter, Gov. Pritzker called on President Trump to:
- Direct the U.S. Treasury to establish a mechanism providing direct payments of $1,700 per family, totaling approximately $8.7 billion for Illinois households. ?
- Publicly support the Tariff Relief for Consumers Act, which would require corporations receiving substantial tariff refunds to pass that relief on to consumers purchasing household essentials.
- Abandon efforts to reimpose the same taxes on American families under different provisions of federal law.
Gov. Pritzker will continue standing up for Illinois working families, farmers, manufacturers, and small businesses harmed by the Trump Administration’s reckless trade policies and fighting to ensure that tariff relief reaches the people who paid the price.
Please find the Governor’s letter below.
