SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Global trade issues are offering Puerto Rico hope as the United States 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 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 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. Yet 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 and 100 companies that might consider relocating operations to Puerto Rico given the ongoing trade disputes, said Ella Woger Nieves, CEO of Invest Puerto Rico, a public-private partnership that promotes the island as a business and investment destination.

The companies identified work in sectors including aerospace, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Puerto Rico leads American exports of pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing, representing nearly 20 percent of total U.S. exports in 2020, according to the bureau.

In 2024, the island exported nearly $25 billion worth of goods, including $11 billion worth of vaccines and certain cultures; $7 billion worth of packaged medicaments; $1 billion worth of hormones; $984 million worth of orthopedic items; and $625 million worth of medical instruments, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.

Sergio Marxuach, policy director and general counsel for the Center for a New Economy, a non-profit, non-partisan think tank, said the push to attract more companies makes sense, especially recruiting those in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors.

“If I were advising the government, begin there because you already have a footprint,” he said.

Puerto Rico touts its U.S. jurisdiction, tax incentives and skilled workforce as reasons international companies should relocate to the island, but it cannot escape its well-known energy problems.

Chronic power outages continue to plague Puerto Rico, with two islandwide blackouts occurring on Dec. 31 and April 16.

“Puerto Rico needs more reliable energy for the economic growth to improve,” said Robert F. Mujica, executive director of a federal control board that oversees the island’s finances.