The casino floor at Harrah’s wasn’t the only place where bets were being placed this week. Upstairs, at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce summit, Senator Andy Kim was wagering that Trump’s tariffs—policies he’s openly criticized—might accidentally become South Jersey’s ticket to a manufacturing renaissance.
Kim stood before business leaders in Atlantic City with a pitch that felt equal parts opportunism and pragmatism. Foreign companies are scrambling to dodge tariff costs, he explained, and New Jersey needs to position itself as their American landing pad. “We should be at a full-court press right now to try to draw in resources to draw in investments,” Kim told The Inquirer after his Tuesday appearance. He’s been working diplomatic channels across South Korea, Japan, and Europe, testing the waters with executives who are reconsidering their North American footprint.
The irony isn’t lost on anyone. Kim still thinks the tariffs are too steep and economically reckless. Democratic Governor Mike Sherrill hammered that point home at the same conference, calling the trade policies a planning nightmare for New Jersey businesses. Yet Kim, representing Burlington County and eyeing South Jersey’s economic revival, sees a narrow window opening. If companies are going to relocate production to avoid import duties anyway, why not here?
The numbers tell a contradictory story. Manufacturing output ticked up 1% since Trump declared “Liberation Day” a year ago, according to Washington Post analysis. But the country also shed 93,000 manufacturing jobs in that same period. That gap between production and employment reveals the complexity Kim is navigating—growth that doesn’t necessarily translate to paychecks for workers in places like Camden or Salem counties.
During his recent travels, Kim encountered a perception problem that stunned him. International executives assume New Jersey is wall-to-wall suburbs and warehouses with no room for serious industrial development. “Down in South Jersey there’s a lot more space, and the space is good for more than just warehouses,” he said in a follow-up interview. The senator realized the state has a marketing deficit compared to Southern competitors who’ve been aggressively courting foreign direct investment for decades.
Kim pointed to Celltrion’s new biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Central Jersey as proof of concept. The South Korean company’s expansion represents exactly the kind of “global innovation in medicine and technology” he wants replicated across the Delaware River region. He mentioned “a number of other companies from Asia” exploring partnerships, though he didn’t name them—likely because deals are still fragile and announcing too early can spook investors.
The Paulsboro port emerged as Kim’s most concrete example. Just across the river, Hanwha Ocean is leading a shipbuilding revival at the Philadelphia Navy Yard with bipartisan backing, including interest from Trump’s inner circle. Kim wants Paulsboro to become a supply and logistics hub for that operation, feeding components and services into what could become America’s East Coast shipbuilding anchor. “Let’s get Paulsboro an opportunity to be able to take part in that, and build off of that,” he argued. It’s regional thinking that transcends state lines—a recognition that South Jersey’s economic fortunes are tied to greater Philadelphia whether Trenton likes it or not.
He also sees untapped potential in infrastructure already sitting idle or underutilized. Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, with its vast airspace and testing capabilities, could become a drone innovation corridor if the right partnerships materialize. The Federal Aviation Administration’s William J. Hughes Technical Center at Atlantic City Airport—one of the largest FAA research facilities in the country—has been operating in relative obscurity despite cutting-edge aviation technology development happening inside. “I think we can build a real tech ecosystem around there,” Kim said, envisioning a cluster of aerospace startups and manufacturers feeding off federal research.
There’s a gamble embedded in this strategy that goes beyond economics. Kim is essentially trying to extract benefit from a policy framework he fundamentally opposes. If he succeeds in landing major foreign investment, does that validate Trump’s tariff regime? If he fails, does that prove the protectionist approach was doomed from the start? The political optics cut both ways, and Kim’s Republican opponents will be watching closely for either outcome.
The broader question is whether states can effectively compete for these investments without a coordinated national industrial policy. Other governors are making similar pitches to the same pool of nervous foreign companies. Ohio, Georgia, and Texas have economic development offices with bigger budgets and more aggressive tax incentive packages. According to the International Trade Administration, foreign direct investment in the U.S. reached $5.3 trillion in 2022, but competition among states for that capital has never been fiercer.
New Jersey also faces structural challenges that a good sales pitch can’t fully overcome. The state’s cost of doing business ranks among the highest nationally, according to CNBC’s annual competitiveness study. Property taxes, energy costs, and regulatory complexity create friction that Southern states don’t impose. Kim can talk up available land in South Jersey, but he can’t unilaterally reform New Jersey’s tax code or streamline permitting processes that companies consistently cite as deterrents.
Still, there’s something to his argument about misconceptions. I’ve covered economic development across the Mid-Atlantic long enough to know that perception often matters as much as reality when corporate site selectors are drawing up shortlists. If executives genuinely don’t realize South Jersey has industrial-zoned land and deepwater port access, that’s a fixable problem. But it requires sustained marketing investment and coordination between state agencies, local governments, and federal representatives—the kind of alignment that’s proven elusive in New Jersey’s fractured political landscape.
Kim left Atlantic City with homework for the business community too. He urged companies to think beyond immediate tariff relief and consider long-term partnerships with foreign firms bringing advanced manufacturing techniques. That requires New Jersey businesses to see themselves as collaborators rather than just beneficiaries, a mindset shift that doesn’t happen overnight in a state historically oriented toward finance and logistics over heavy industry.
The clock is ticking. Trade policies could shift again after the next election. Currency fluctuations might make domestic production less attractive. And other states aren’t sitting idle while Kim makes his pitch. Whether South Jersey becomes a tariff-driven manufacturing hub or just another case study in missed opportunity may depend less on available land than on whether state and federal officials can actually deliver the coordinated strategy Kim is describing. The senator is making the calls. Now he needs partners who can close the deals.
