Trump voters in Michigan plead for an end to trade wars

STERLING HEIGHTS, Michigan — President Donald Trump promised that his tariff policies would make the country richer and would bring in enough revenue to eliminate the need for income tax and to pay down the country’s debt. Instead, Trump voters in Michigan told MS NOW they feel poorer, as income tax is still on the books and the national debt has soared to $40 trillion.

Increased prices due to tariffs continue to pinch consumers across the country, and few are paying a higher price than Michiganders.

In September, a study for the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, a nonpartisan “small government” research group, estimated that the impact of tariffs on Michigan households since January 2025 has been somewhere between $23 billion and $26 billion, which breaks down to an estimated burden of about $6,000 per household.

“I hate them. They suck,” Dennis Walls, a three-time Trump voter who works in landscaping and is looking for a second job, said of tariffs.

Walls, who is from Imlay City, said the tariffs have made groceries more expensive and cost his landscaping business more for equipment.

“Our backpacks, leaf-blowing backpacks, stick edges, weed whackers, machines, even keep going up higher and higher,” he said.

Michigan’s exposure to Trump’s trade war is amplified by its proximity to Canada and the deep ties between their economies. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative estimated that Michigan exported $23.2 billion in goods to Canada in 2025. The Canadian government estimated it exported about $43.5 billion in goods to Michigan that same year.

This year, Trump imposed significant tariffs on Canada, drawing retaliation from Canada — which ended in a stalemate this September, when tariffs on billions of dollars of goods went into effect.

Kenneth Matthews, 57, is another three-time Trump voter who’s juggling work at a factory and his own lawn care business.

“I’m pissed off about them,” he said. “It’s even harder when you’re running your own business.”

Matthews said he regrets his support for Trump.

“He’s not making America great again. He’s putting us farther in the hole,” he said.

His message to the president is simple: “Knock the tariffs off. Get rid of them. We shouldn’t have them.”

Michigan’s historic automotive industry is on the front line of the trade wars Trump has picked with Canada and Mexico. But it’s the small businesses that keep the industry humming that are being hit hardest.

Andi Asliwa, 28, is an owner and mechanic at New Testament Auto Service in Sterling Heights. The entrepreneur told MS NOW that the tariffs are making his business untenable as he has to pass on higher prices for parts to his customers.

“I used to get brake pads for $35, $25. Now they’re $70 and up,” said Asliwa, who voted for Trump in 2024. He said his brake pads are imported from China, and he’s sticking with them as they remain less expensive than domestically produced brake pads, which he said are worse quality.