Puerto Rico seeks to lure manufacturing to boost its economy as Trump’s tariff war deepens

A global trade war is offering Puerto Rico hope as the U.S. territory, attempts to strengthen its fragile economy.

Government officials are jumping on planes to try and convince international companies to relocate their manufacturing plants to the island, where they would be exempt from tariffs.

Any relocation would be a boost to Puerto Rico’s shaky economy as the government emerges from a historic bankruptcy and continues to struggle with chronic power outages. The island also is bracing for potentially big cuts in federal funding under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, with federal funds currently representing more than half of Puerto Rico’s budget.

“The tariff issue is a controversial one, but for Puerto Rico, it’s a great opportunity,” said Gov. Jenniffer González.

Manufacturing remains the island’s biggest industry, representing nearly half of its gross domestic product. But the government wants to recapture Puerto Rico’s heyday, when dozens of big-name companies, especially in the pharmaceutical sector, were based here and kept the economy humming.

So far, officials have identified between 75 to 100 companies that might consider relocating operations to Puerto Rico given the ongoing trade war, said Ella Woger Nieves, CEO of Invest Puerto Rico, a public-private partnership that promotes the island as a business and investment destination.