Consultant: Incentives tell firms NC 'open for business'

"Offering Toyota and Mazda $1.5 billion in incentives sent a great message to not just the auto industry but to the aerospace industry and the medical devices industry and the food processing industry that North Carolina is open for business," said Boyd, principal of The Boyd Company, an international leader in corporate site selection.

Boyd told a legislative oversight committee that many companies are bringing jobs back to the U.S. from overseas, and President Donald Trump's "business-friendly climate" is accelerating those moves.

"[You've got] tax cuts, lowering the corporate tax from 35 to 21 percent, eliminating expensive environmental regulations, a pro-business energy policy and, of course, an "America First" posture on trade," he said.

"Clearly, they're aware of this PR battle. The idea is to get fairer trade that's free trade but a bit fairer that protects what's left of our manufacturing base," he said. "It's the administration's job to make that case to foreign governments. We'll see how it plays out."

Canada, Mexico and China are major markets for North Carolina exports and could enact their own tariffs in retaliation. Although Canada and Mexico are initially exempted from the new tariffs, Trump has linked leaving them out altogether to possible concessions in the North American Free Trade Agreement.