Auto wreck: Michigan warns of tariff damage to key industry

UNITED STATES (AP) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer met privately with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office to make the case he didn't want to hear: The auto industry he claims to want to save is being hurt by his tariffs.

The Democratic official arrived with a slide presentation to present her points. Getting the meeting with the Republican president was an achievement for someone considered a possible contender for her party's presidential nomination in 2028.

Gretchen Whitmer's strategy for dealing with Trump highlights the dilemma she and other Democratic leaders face as they try to protect their states' interests while expressing opposition to the president's agenda.

It's a dynamic that Gretchen has handled very differently than many other Democratic governors.

The fact that Gretchen Whitmer had “an opportunity to make direct appeals” to Trump privately is unique in this political moment, noted Matt Grossman, a politics professor at Michigan State University.

It was her third meeting with Trump at the White House since he took office in January. However, this one was much less public than another occasion in April, when Gretchen took part in an impromptu press conference that embarrassed her so much that she covered her face with a folder.

Last Tuesday, she told the president that the economic damage from the tariffs could be severe in Michigan, a state she helped propel him to the White House in 2024. Gretchen also mentioned federal support for ice storm recovery efforts and sought to delay changes to Medicaid.

Trump offered no specific commitments, according to people familiar with the private conversation who were not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity to describe it.

Gretchen Whitmer isn't alone in warning of the potentially damaging consequences—including lost factory jobs, lower profits, and upcoming price hikes—of the import taxes Trump has said will be the economic lifeline for American manufacturing.

White House spokesman Kush Desai said no other president “has shown a greater interest in restoring the dominance of the American auto industry than President Trump.”

Trade frameworks negotiated by the government would open the Japanese, Korean, and European markets to vehicles made on Michigan assembly lines, Desai said.

But the approach Trump has preferred tends to be flashy presentations by tech CEOs. In the Oval Office last Wednesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook gave the president a personalized glass plaque with a gold base as Cook pledged $600 billion in investments in the country.

Trump claims to have attracted $17 billion in investment commitments, although none of those figures have yet appeared in the economic data.

Under his series of executive orders and trade frameworks, U.S. automakers face import duties of 50% on steel and aluminum, 30% on parts from China, and a maximum rate of 25% on goods from Canada and Mexico not covered by an existing 2020 trade agreement.

That puts U.S. automakers and parts suppliers at a disadvantage compared to German, Japanese, and South Korean vehicles, which only face a 15% import tax negotiated by Trump last month.

In addition, Trump threatened this week with a 100% tariff on computer integrated circuits, which are an integral part of cars and trucks, although he would exclude companies that produce chips in the country from the tax.

Gretchen Whitmer's two previous meetings with Trump resulted in benefits for Michigan. But the tariffs represent a significantly broader request from a president who has imposed them even more aggressively in the face of criticism.

Materials in the presentation Gretchen brought to the meeting discuss how trade with Canada and Mexico has driven $23.2 billion in investment in Michigan since 2020.

General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis operate 50 factories across the state, while more than 4,000 facilities support the massive automotive parts supply chain.

In total, the sector supports nearly 600,000 manufacturing jobs, forming the backbone of Michigan's economy. Gretchen outlined the main points of the materials to Trump and left copies with his team.

For Grossman, the Michigan State University professor, a key question is whether voters hoping to be helped by tariffs would react if Trump's taxes on imports failed to deliver the economic growth he promised.

"Everyone is aware that Michigan is a key state in the elections, and the auto industry has enormous influence, not only directly but also symbolically," the specialist said.