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FILE – Rolled coils of steel sit in the yard at the ArcelorMittal Dofasco steel plant in Hamilton, Ont., Aug. 20, 2026. (Nick Iwanyshyn \/The Canadian Press via AP, File)<\/p>\n
Nick Iwanyshyn\/Nick Iwanyshyn\/The Canadian Pres<\/p>\n
FILE – Workers are seen in the manufacturing plant of Ideal Roofing in Ottawa on Aug. 25, 2026. (Justin Tang\/The Canadian Press via AP, File)<\/p>\n
Justin Tang\/Justin Tang\/The Canadian Press v<\/p>\n
FILE – President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington.<\/p>\n
Mark Schiefelbein\/AP Photo\/Mark Schiefelbein<\/p>\n
NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Nelson Vandermeer voted Republican for decades but balked at supporting President Donald Trump, fearing that the Republican’s plan for tariffs on imports would hurt workers more than help.<\/p>\n
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Last year, Vandermeer’s premonition came true in a very personal way. The 62-year-old lost his job as a product designer at Howard Miller, a clockmaker that relied on parts produced overseas. After a century in business, the company in Zeeland, Michigan, closed its factory, sold off its inventory and brand name and laid off nearly 200 workers.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSo much for bringing jobs back,\u201d Vandermeer said. Next month, he plans to vote straight Democrat in the midterms.<\/p>\n
As if an unpopular war with Iran and persistent inflation were not enough trouble for Republicans, they are confronting a backlash over the tariffs that Trump made a cornerstone of his economic agenda. He promised that charging higher taxes on imports would spur a factory renaissance in the United States, but that has not come to pass. Although the country has added manufacturing jobs so far this year, the sector has fewer employees than when Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.<\/p>\n
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers insisted that a factory boom is underway, citing increases in manufacturing output and more work in certain nonresidential construction trades. \u201cFactory construction jobs of today mean more manufacturing jobs down the road once those factories come online,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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Even before the tariffs, Howard Miller struggled as Americans lost their taste for fancy timepieces such as its signature grandfather and mantel clocks. So the company broadened its offerings years ago to include bar carts, cabinets and consoles.<\/p>\n
But those products also depended on glass and other parts from abroad, and diversification did not ensure survival.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could still have a job, but now I don\u2019t because of tariffs,\u201d Vandermeer said. \u201cIt was like taking a knife to the back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Job losses pile up in battleground states<\/p>\n
Vandermeer lives in Michigan’s 4th Congressional District, which is represented by Republican Bill Huizenga, who is running for a ninth term in the Nov. 3 election.<\/p>\n
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Before Trump implemented his broadest set of tariffs last year, on what the president called \u201cLiberation Day,\u201d Huizenga was supportive.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it going to be easy? Not necessarily. Is it the right thing to do? Absolutely it is,\u201d he told reporters at the time.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Huizenga said last week that the congressman \u201csees a potential role for tariffs\u201d for boosting domestic manufacturing “while recognizing the need to address their broader economic effects.\u201d His Democratic opponent, state Sen. Sean McCann, has criticized the incumbent for opposing legislation that would rein in tariffs that Trump imposed unilaterally.<\/p>\n
There are similar issues in competitive races in Kansas, Iowa and Ohio, where Republican acquiescence could hurt the party on Election Day as their constituents face factory layoffs, farm foreclosures and higher prices.<\/p>\n
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Tracy Chew, 55, voted for Trump in 2016, then for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 and Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024.<\/p>\n
She used to work for Case, a backhoe manufacturer, but the company announced before the tariffs that it would close its plant in Burlington, Iowa. She lost her job in April, as did her daughter, followed by husband and son-in-law over the next few weeks.<\/p>\n
Chew is leaning toward voting for Democrats again this year, feeling that Trump let them down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m furious he isn\u2019t doing enough,” she said. \u201cTariffs are not targeting the right companies, the right amount.”<\/p>\n
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Layoffs in Iowa have piled up elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Winnebago Industries, which produces recreational vehicles like campers, cut 200 jobs last year after the cost of importing aluminum, steel and electronics increased by tens of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a day to day battle,\u201d said Michael Happe, the company’s chief executive.<\/p>\n
In the tight race for an open U.S. Senate seat in Iowa, U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson faces Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek. There is a close contest, too, in Kansas, where Democrat Adam Hamilton, the pastor of the largest United Methodist Church in the U.S., is trying to unseat Republican Roger Marshall.<\/p>\n
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Cole Hoppock, chief executive of appliance maker Vornado Air in Wichita, Kansas, said Trump’s tariffs \u201cimpacted virtually everything.\u201d The company known for its retro household fans laid off more than 70 factory workers in February, blaming higher prices for imported parts.<\/p>\n
Trump’s trade policy could force cutbacks soon at another Kansas employer, Canadian jet manufacturer Bombardier. Trump has threatened to ban the company’s sales in the U.S. if Bombardier does not start making all its planes in the U.S. Bombardier said it buys parts from 2,800 companies in 47 states, including in Kansas, where it employs more than 1,000 people<\/p>\n
Trump’s approach to trade is unpopular<\/p>\n
Trump has spent years complaining that other countries are ripping off the U.S. when it comes to trade. Most economists say he is wrong and that his remedy \u2014 broad universal tariffs \u2014 would cause more pain than help.<\/p>\n
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