(WAND) -- President Donald Trump is set to visit Illinois for the first time this week.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports the president is expected to visit the U.S. Steel Corp. mill in Granite City on Thursday. That's about ten miles northeast of downtown St. Louis.
Experts say this could help Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, as he vies for re-election this November. It's not clear if Gov. Rauner will join President Trump for his visit.
However, the president's visit comes as the Trump administration is using the steel mill in Granite City to highlight tariffs on steel imported from China, Europe and Mexico. Trump officials says those tariffs helped the steel plant restart two blast furnaces after they were shut down in 2015.
But critics say retaliatory tariffs from those countries could harm American manufacturers and producers. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) told WAND's Doug Wolfe earlier this month those retaliatory tariffs could mean a "historic drop in prices" for pork and soybean farmers this year.
