What could Trump's tariffs on steel, aluminum mean for Michigan?
(CBS DETROIT) - President Trump announced a new 25% blanket tariff on all steel and aluminum imports. This tariff is part of a growing list of tariffs his administration has already threatened or imposed.
Whether you're for them, against them, or really don't understand them, experts say tariffs will be impacting us, and most likely even more so in Michigan, just feet away from Canada.
"Really, really could seriously impact these companies ... particularly the smaller companies but all the supply chain," said Glenn R. Stevens Jr., executive director of MichAuto.
Just a few weeks into Mr. Trump's current presidency, his administration has said it will impose tariffs on Mexico, China, and Canada.
It's a tax on goods and services imported from other countries. Many industries, like the auto business, now worry that it could not only impact their supply chain but also force them to pass increased prices down to the consumer.
"We really don't know what the ramifications are and how they will hit and how they will get passed along, but they can't be absorbed by the suppliers or the industry. So in effect, whether it's auto's at the dealer's showroom with the vehicle's consumer price or in the grocery store, consumers are going to feel it," Stevens said.
Given the amount of trade between Canada and the U.S., the short-term impacts could be felt more locally. The Ambassador Bridge alone carries over a quarter of the annual trade between the U.S. and Canada.
"The trade volume, especially auto parts, agriculture, and pharmaceuticals, is tremendous," said Mickey Blashfield, the former president of the Michigan Trucking Association.
Proponents of Trump's tariffs argue that taxing American companies for imported goods will ultimately push America to create more jobs and manufacturing instead of having other countries continue to benefit.
"Some of those nations have worked themselves into a significant advantage that we haven't taken notice of. This is a period of adjustment, we'll get used to it," Blashfield said.
As both corporations and the public now brace for tariffs, it may just be the beginning as President Trump continues to hint at more.
