Voters in a key swing state say President Donald Trump set a pointless "three-alarm fire" when he waged a "stupid" trade war with Canada, according to a new report.
Michigan auto workers are not happy with the Republican leader after he delivered what they fear will be a serious blow to their industry, The Bulwark reported Sunday.
“It’s just stupid,” Tanya Rincon, a retired autoworker, told The Bulwark. “We build parts for them, they build parts for us, we sell cars to them, they sell their products here."
The United Auto Workers and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have both come out against Trump’s tariffs, with the latter declaring "We Stand With Our Neighbour” at last week's Labor Day Parade in Detroit.
American-made cars now only account for a third (down from a half) of Canadian vehicle imports and last year Trump’s tariffs on Canada cost the American auto industry $4 billion, according to the report.
Patrick Anderson, of the Anderson Group, told The Bulwark in an interview things have gone from bad to worse.
“Now,” Anderson said, “it looks like a three-alarm fire.”
Less than a third of Michigan voters approve of Trump’s tariffs, according to a Detroit News poll — a point on which Democrat Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed has been quick to jump.
The Bulwark reported El-Sayed called it a "dumba-- trade war” during a brief interview.
His opponent Mike Rogers, meanwhile, has only offered lukewarm support for the tariff, telling CNN last week, “If it’s bad for Michigan, I’m going to be against it.”
"That sounds a lot like somebody who has read those polls...but is wary of incurring the president’s wrath," The Bulwark report stated. "It raises a question for those Michigan voters nervous about tariffs: Do they trust Rogers to stand up for them when doing so requires going against Trump’s whims?"