In Trump’s tariffs, some in Northwest Indiana see a potential return to glory

For most people, it’s just farmland.

For Chris Salatas, it's an opportunity for Northwest Indiana to cash in on President Donald Trump’s tariff policy.

“A lot of these companies are looking to move,” said Salatas, looking out on a 250-acre plot of land in Crown Point, about an hour south of Chicago, that he hopes could be home to a company prompted by Trump’s tariffs to move to the United States.

Salatas is president of the Lake County IN Economic Alliance, which is helping to market the plot of land.

Trump's effort to impose sweeping tariffs using the emergency powers law is being challenged in court. Those tariffs have been roundly criticized by economists and business leaders for the haphazard way they’ve been imposed and the likelihood they will drive up prices for American consumers. But in Northwest Indiana, some business leaders and even a few Democratic politicians are hopeful the tax on imports will bring manufacturing back to the United States. If that happens, they believe the region is primed to reclaim its place as a blue-collar capital.

Some experts say Trump’s goal of forcing more domestic manufacturing activity is unlikely to succeed, but Salatas believes no area is more ready to accept companies looking to reshore than Northwest Indiana.

“If tariffs are here to stay and if they're going to be high, this would make a great landing spot for some of those domestic car manufacturers that are going to have to pull their production out of Mexico,” Salatas said.

While only 8% of Americans currently work in manufacturing, it’s nearly double that in Indiana at 15.8%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Salatas said besides the Crown Point field, there are other potential sites farther north in Gary, Hammond and East Chicago, an industrial corridor that’s been home to some of the nation’s largest and oldest facilities for steel, iron and petroleum production.

Downsizing of the domestic steel industry beginning in the 1960s caused massive depopulation in those Rust Belt communities, and many in Northwest Indiana blame federal policy for the decline.

“My own grandfather was a union steelworker here in Northwest Indiana,” Salatas said. “He talked to me about stories about businesses leaving after the signing of NAFTA,” Salatas said, referring to the North American Free Trade Agreement, a compact between the United States, Canada and Mexico, ushered in by President George H.W. Bush.

Now, Salatas said, Trump’s tariffs could be a way to bring some of those companies back.

Heather Ennis, president and chief operating officer of the Northwest Indiana Forum, a pro-business group that tries to lure firms to the state, said the region has a ready and willing workforce that wants jobs many Americans don’t.

“The state of Indiana has the highest per capita residents working in manufacturing,” Ennis said. “Pretty exciting to have that workforce that is work-ready.”

But Ennis and Salatas are far more bullish than most. Indiana U.S. Sen. Todd Young, a Republican, does not believe tariffs are a cure-all for the region.

“The emphasis should not be on trying to reshore everything that is manufactured — that would be untenable economically. That is not something that, frankly, is even desirable. We don't want people employed in lower value-added manufacturing jobs,” Young said earlier this month at a forum with the Washington Post.

In Gary, home to U.S. Steel, one of the nation’s largest steel plants, Democratic Mayor Eddie Melton is trying to position his city to take advantage of any firms wanting to relocate. But Melton is worried a trade war could lead to higher food and retail prices for his already-struggling residents.

“It’s hard to determine what the impact of tariffs is going to be. However, we are poised and positioned to grow our economy. We have the land and the capacity to grow transportation, logistics, warehousing, distribution opportunities in our footprint in our city,” Melton said.

Tom McDermott, the mayor of Hammond, the largest city in Northwest Indiana, is a fan of Trump’s policy even if it makes goods more expensive.

“I’m pro-tariff. I am pro-tariff,” the Democrat said in a recent video posted on Facebook. “All these manufacturers like Apple that took their businesses and moved to China and moved to Mexico, they are going to have to start thinking about coming back home.”

Michael Puente is a reporter and weekend anchor at WBEZ. Reach him at mpuente@wbez.org.