Executive Order 2025-07

WHEREAS, the United States has implemented tariffs on imports from trading partners since February 2025, including tariffs as high as 145% on Chinese goods; and, 

WHEREAS, China, historically the largest purchaser of American soybean exports, and the third largest market for U.S. agricultural exports, has imposed retaliatory tariffs of up to 34% on U.S. soybeans and other agricultural products; and, 

WHEREAS, in 2016, prior to the first Trump Administration, China purchased 62% of U.S. soybean exports, which dropped to 18% in 2018 after the imposition of tariffs, and has not returned to pre-tariff levels; and, 

WHEREAS, China has purchased limited Illinois and or U.S. soybeans for the 2025/26 commodity market year, representing the loss of an export market that traditionally has purchased up to 50% of total U.S. soybean exports; and, 

WHEREAS, Illinois is the Midwest’s largest exporting state, with agricultural exports valued at $13.7 billion in 2023, and Illinois farmers rely heavily on international markets that are now facing unprecedented disruption from tariffs; and, 

WHEREAS, agriculture is Illinois’ number one industry, with an annual economic impact to the State of $26.4 billion; and,  

WHEREAS, the American Soybean Association has warned that U.S. soybean farmers “cannot survive a prolonged trade dispute”  with their largest customer; and, 

WHEREAS, retaliatory tariffs have also reduced exports and markets for corn, wheat, and other Illinois agricultural products, further threatening the economic stability of rural communities; and, 

WHEREAS, China has secured contracts with Brazil and Argentina to meet its current and future agricultural needs, raising the risk of permanent market loss for American farmers, even as the federal government provides bailouts to Argentina while failing to adequately support U.S. producers; and, 

WHEREAS, the Trump Administration plans to import beef from Argentina, undermining the market for 10,713 Illinois beef farms, representing approximately 333,000 head of cattle; and, 

WHEREAS, Argentina has sold over $801 million of beef to the United States in the past five years while purchasing only $7 million of American beef, creating a 100-to-1 trade imbalance that the Administration now seeks to reward with expanded market access; and, 

WHEREAS, the trade policies under the Trump Administration have fiscally devastated farmers who are the financial backbone of our rural economies, leading to increased bankruptcies and irreversible damage to rural communities and their hospitals, schools, and small businesses; and, 

WHEREAS, Illinois farmers are experiencing undue financial pressure and instability, with many facing selling a family farm or declaring bankruptcy; and,

WHEREAS, in 2019, the Illinois Department of Agriculture, in partnership with the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, created a pilot program for the Illinois Farm Family Resource Initiative, a program to provide mental health resources and support to farming communities; and, 

WHEREAS, in 2021, the program expanded to cover all counties in the State, and continues to provide confidential, free, telehealth mental health sessions and a helpline, providing increased access to critical services for rural agricultural communities; and, 

WHEREAS, according to the National Rural Health Association, farmers in the United States are 3.5 times more likely to die by suicide than the general population as farmers face unique stressors, such as financial pressures, climate uncertainty and rising input costs compounded by limited access and stigma to accessing mental health services;  

THEREFORE, I, JB Pritzker, Governor of Illinois, by virtue of the executive authority vested in me by the Illinois Constitution and the laws of the State of Illinois, and in the interest of aiding the agricultural producers of Illinois and the rural communities threatened by federal trade policy failures, hereby order as follows: 

Section 1.     Based on the impacts Illinois farmers are experiencing due to the current U.S. trade policies, I find that an agricultural trade crisis exists within the State of Illinois. 

Section 2.     The Illinois Department of Agriculture and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity are directed to coordinate to promote, develop, and enhance domestic markets for agricultural commodities. 

Section 3.     The Illinois Department of Agriculture is further directed to continue to invest in the Farm Family Resource Initiative, promoting farmer mental health through a network of support and resources for Illinois farm families, including the 833.FARM.SOS helpline and no cost counseling sessions with professionals who understand the stressors and lived experiences of farm families, in an effort to support agricultural producers and rural communities affected by this period of unprecedented agricultural economic instability.  

Section 4.     Nothing in this Executive Order shall be construed to contravene any federal or State law or regulation. Nothing in this Executive Order shall affect or alter the existing statutory powers of any State agency. 

Section 5.     If any provision of this Executive Order or its application to any person or circumstances is held invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, this invalidity does not affect any other provision or application of this Executive Order which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application. To achieve this purpose, the provisions of this Executive Order are declared to be severable.

Section 6.     This Executive Order shall be effective immediately upon its filing with the Secretary of State. 

__________________________

JB Pritzker
Governor

Issued by the Governor:  October 29, 2025

Filed with the Secretary of State:  October 29, 2025