⁍ Michigan’s heavy reliance on the steel and auto industries puts Trump’s trade policy in sharp focus ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential election.
⁍ Democrats say they aim to recapture the votes of blue-collar workers they lost to Trump four years ago.
⁍ The competition for the votes of often-unionized manufacturing workers – who historically have voted Democratic – will be just as fierce in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
– President Trump’s “America First” trade policy is taking a heavy toll on the steel and auto industries in swing states ahead of the midterm elections, Reuters reports. In Michigan, for example, United States Steel has shuttered its Great Lakes Works plant and laid off 1,250 workers since Trump imposed a 25% tariff on steel imports in March last year. The tariff has led to 1,900 fewer steel jobs in the US than when Trump took office, according to Labor Department data, and 35% of the manufacturing job losses in Michigan since 2017 have been in the auto and auto-related industries. “I don’t see any policy that helped us,” Bob Kemper, grievance committee chairman at Great Lakes Works’ chapter of the United Steelworkers union, tells Reuters. “We are losing our damn jobs here.” Kemper, who is backing Joe Biden for Senate, says many of his members voted for Trump in 2016 but have since changed their minds. “Trump has done more to protect US manufacturing than any of his predecessors,” he says. “He has given a whole-hearted effort.” In other election coverage:
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-steel-insight/trump-steel-tariffs-bring-job-losses-to-swing-state-michigan-idUSKBN26U161