Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer privately in the oval office with President Donald Trump In order to do a case, he didn’t want to hear: the automotive industry that he said was saved by injured by injured His tariffs.
The Democrat came with a slide deck to achieve their points in a visual presentation. The meeting on Tuesday with the Republican President was an achievement for someone who was regarded in 2028 as a candidate for the nomination of the White House of her party.
Whitmer’s strategy for dealing with Trump underlines the puzzle for her and other democratic leaders, while trying to protect the interests of their states and at the same time express their opposition to his agenda. It is a dynamic that Whitmer has navigated much differently than many other democratic governors.
The fact that Whitmer “an opening in this political moment to directly appeal for Trump”, said Matt Grossman, a policy professor at Michigan State University.
It was her Third meeting with Trump in the White House since his office in January. However, this was far less public than the time in April when Whitmer was unintentionally part of one Pressu press conference It was so much embarrassing for her that she covered her face with a folder.
On Tuesday, she informed the President that the economic damage to the tariffs in Michigan, a state that delivered the White House in 2024 could be serious. Whitmer also raised the support of the federal government for recovery efforts after an ice storm and tried to delay changes to Medicaid.
Trump did not offer any specific obligations, according to people who were familiar with the private conversation who were not justified to discuss it publicly, and only spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe it.
Whitmer is hardly the only one who has the warning of the potentially harmful consequences, including factory loss losses, lower profits and upcoming price increases, the import taxes that Trump said, sounds economic redemption for American production.
The spokesman for the White House, Kush Desai, that no other president “prevailed in the restoration of the American auto industry as President Trump”. Trade framework negotiated by the administration would open the Japanese, Korean and European markets for vehicles that were made into Michigan in the assembly lines, said Desai.
But the Outreach Trump preferred to be lively presentations of technical CEOs. In the oval office on Wednesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook gave the President a tailor -made glass badge with a gold base when Cook promised investments of $ 600 billion. Trump claims to have brought investment obligations of $ 17 trillion dollars, although none of these figures have appeared in economic data.
According to its series of executive orders and trade frames, US car manufacturers have import taxes of 50% for steel and aluminum, 30% for parts from China and a top quota of 25% for goods from Canada and Mexico, which are not covered under an existing trade agreement from 2020. This disadvantages the car manufacturers and parts suppliers against German, Japanese and South Korean vehicles, which are only exposed to 15% negotiated by Trump last month.
In addition, Trump threatened a 100% tariff on computer chips last week, which are an integral part of cars and trucks, although he would rule out companies that produce chips out of tax domestic.
Whitmers two earlier meetings with Trump led to win for Michigan. However, the tariffs represent a much broader request from a president who imposed them even more aggressive in view of the criticism.
The materials in the presentation brought Whitmer to the meeting and received the Associated Press, such as trading with Canada and Mexico 23.2 billion US dollars in Michigan.
General MotorsFord and Sternantis Operate 50 factories across the state, while more than 4,000 institutions support the supply chain of the auto parts. In total, the sector supports almost 600,000 jobs for manufacturing work and forms the backbone of Michigan’s economy.
Whitmer outlined the main points of the materials for Trump and left copies with his team.
For Grossman, the professor of the Michigan state, is a central question of whether voters who are to be helped by the tariffs would react if Trump’s import taxes would not deliver the promised economic growth.
“Everyone is aware that Michigan is a critical swing state and that the auto industry not only has directly but also symbolically attacked,” said Grossman.
AP VUTECAST found that Trump won Michigan in 2024, especially because two thirds of his voters described the economic conditions as poor or “not so good”. About 70% of the voters in the state who had a negative impact on the economy supported the Republican. The state was essentially shared whether the tariffs were positive, with Trump received 76% of the voters that they looked at them positively.
The heads of the general engine, Ford and Stellantis have repeatedly warned the administration that the tariffs would lower the company’s profit and undermine their global competitiveness. Your efforts have only led to a temporary, months -long break, which is supposed to give the companies time to adapt. The postponement did little to do the financial fallout to stical.
In the second quarter alone, Ford reported tariff rent costs of $ 800 million, while GM stated that import taxes cost $ 1.1 billion. These expenses could make it more difficult to invest again in new domestic factories, a goal that Trump started.
“We assume that tariffs are a net surplus of around 2 billion US dollars this year, and we will continue to monitor the developments closely and work with political decision -makers to ensure that US Auto -Auto and customers are not disadvantaged by changing the guidelines,” said Ford CEO Jim Farley about the employment call for his company.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Michigan has returned to production since the return of Trump to the White House.
Smaller suppliers also felt the load.
Detroit Axle, a family-run car parts dealer, was one of the loud more loud companies in Michigan on the effects of the tariffs. The company initially announced that it may have to close a warehouse and released more than 100 employees, but later said that it would at least be able to keep the facility open.
“At the moment it is a market that can survive. It’s not about who can thrive,” said Mike Musheinesh, owner of Detroit Achle.
