Whitmer says Trump’s trade tensions with Canada will hurt Michiganders

As the President Donald Trump threatens to increase tariffs on Canadian goods, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer criticized Trump’s tariff policy saying Michigan families will have to pay for it.

The United States and Canada failed to reach a trade deal over the last few days, and Trump imposed a 50% tariff on $20 billion of the country’s exports this past weekend based on obscure statute from 1930 that has never been used to impose tariffs.

On Monday, Trump threatened to increase tariffs on all automobile parts to 50% starting on January 1.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the allies were “at war” now over trade and said there would be a response back.

Whitmer posted on X on Saturday that Michiganders would be uniquely harmed by the “chaotic tariff wars” and that it would “cut as a tax hike on Michigan families and businesses by raising prices at the grocery store and the gas pump.”

She focused on the automotive industry in the state, saying those companies “face the difficult decision of laying off workers or passing costs onto their customers, who are already suffering because of the GOP’s gamesmanship.” She called for an end to the chaos and said, “Michiganders literally cannot afford to keep paying these Republican tariff taxes.”

Whitmer has been a longtime critic of Trump’s tariff policies while keeping an otherwise cordial relationship with the president. Whitmer wrote an op-ed last year in The Washington Post calling for a more stable economic policy.

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel also went on the attack against Trump, saying it was “B.S.” and that “the reckless tariffs are just going to cause prices to rise even further.”

However, he said Republican candidates like U.S. Rep. John James, R-Shelby Township, and Mike Rogers don’t care.

“Canada is Michigan’s largest trading partner and our economies are intertwined,” Hertel said in a statement. “This trade war and the resulting tariffs will raise costs on families and punish our state’s manufacturing industry. Michigan Republicans own this disaster, and voters deserve answers from Republican candidates on why they’re dutifully standing by as Trump continues to sabotage Michigan’s economy.” 

The Michigan Smart Trade Alliance, which includes groups such as the Detroit Regional Chamber, MichAuto and the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, also criticized the policy move, saying the group has heard in their polls that 74% of Michigan voters understand tariffs are contributing to inflation and 70% of respondents called for federal lawmakers to pursue different trade policy to lower costs.

“Michigan residents repeatedly tell pollsters that the cost of living is their top issue of worry and concern,” MISTA spokesperson John Sellek said in a statement. “They are looking to their members of Congress to pursue trade and tariff policies that encourage fair trade and stable supply chains with close trading partners like Canada, while holding other countries fully accountable.”