Governor Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday that she will travel to Washington D.C. soon to lobby federal officials against proposed big cuts to the U.S. Department of Education and new tariffs against Canada and other trading partners.
As a new round of Trump administration tariffs are set to go ahead early next month, Whitmer said the nascent trade war is unwelcome on both sides of the Michigan-Canadian border.
“Indiscriminate tariffs on our allies — they’re going to put Michiganders out of work,” she said. “They’re going to hit Michigan harder than any other state and drive up costs for consumers."
“I know the business community is very worried too,” she said. “They want stability and predictability and I think all these things present a lot of challenges and so I’m going to be in D.C. trying to lobby on behalf of the State of Michigan and I hope people continue to raise their voices because they’ve got to hear us loud and clear.”
Last week, business leaders said they were relieved with the delay in the first round of Trump administration tariff hikes but pleaded for a permanent moratorium.
“While another postponement of the White House’s proposed tariffs on automotive-related trade between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico is somewhat of a reprieve for the industry, damage has already been done,” said Glenn Stevens Jr., the Detroit Regional Chamber Vice President of Automotive and Mobility Initiatives.
“For an industry that operates in three-to-five-year product cycles, this level of day-to-day uncertainty is debilitating.”
The Whitmer administration did not immediately share a travel date or itinerary. Canada and the European Union are responding to steel and aluminum tariffs that could place a burden on U.S. manufacturing. Michigan also faces a freeze in disaster funding.
Whitmer also said she hopes to avert deep cuts to the U.S. Department of Education that would dramatically affect Michigan schools. Those could include funds to help low-income students who are struggling and for special education services.
