Stepping on stage in Washington, D.C., Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer laid out her plan to rejuvenate American manufacturing, centering her strategy on shipbuilding, aviation and semiconductor chips.
However, that vision faces a big hurdle, as President Donald Trump launches a global trade war, placing tariffs on allies and enemies alike and creating broad uncertainty for businesses in Michigan and across the nation.
Ahead of a planned meeting with Trump, and speaking at a rented venue about a block from the White House, Whitmer played to her bipartisan background while still not mincing words on the way Trump’s tariffs have impacted Michigan, noting that 20% of the state’s economy is tied to the auto industry, which depends on international trading partners.
Michigan is also home to the busiest international border crossing in the U.S. With more than 10,000 trucks carrying parts and materials between Detroit and Windsor every weekday, the state is already seeing impacts from Trump’s tariffs.
“Auto companies are stockpiling parts and laying off workers. Suppliers are facing higher costs and delaying expansions. Dealerships are forced to raise prices by up to $15,000 amid the slowing sales. And since every auto job supports three others in the community, the impact is being felt by all of us including small businesses across my state,” Whitmer said.
Looking beyond the auto industry, these tariffs represent a triple whammy for U.S. residents, Whitmer said, bringing higher costs on everyday goods, fewer jobs and increased uncertainty.
While she agrees with Trump’s reasoning for the tariffs — supporting fair trade and increasing manufacturing in the U.S. — Whitmer called for a tariff carveout for autos and energy, and proposed working with U.S. allies to compete against its adversaries and leveraging increased investments into manufacturing.
“I’m proud that the amount of money being spent to build factories in America has more than tripled over a decade. In Michigan, we’ve secured dozens of new facilities to build chips, batteries, cars and energy. Just this year, major companies have announced huge investments in America to build data centers and factories, and research facilities. Here’s my pitch: let’s keep going,” said Whitmer.
“Let’s make more ships, planes and semiconductor chips in America. Let’s cut red tape and unleash the extraordinary potential of American industry. Let’s give more hardworking people a fair shot at a decent life. And let’s usher in, as President Trump says, a ‘golden age’ of American manufacturing,” she said.
She laid out the threats and challenges the nation faces as it works to support manufacturing in these industries, noting that each American shipyard is short more than 100,000 workers, while the aviation industry faces a similarly shrinking workforce.
While the U.S. builds 0.1% of the world’s ships, China builds 53%, Whitmer said, with its largest state-owned ship company building more ships by tonnage last year than the U.S. has in the past 80 years.
“Last September, the United States Navy set an ambitious goal of building hundreds more ships and submarines over the next few decades. If we don’t progress toward that goal, China’s naval fleet could be 50% larger than ours by 2030,” Whitmer warned, later calling for the expansion of job training programs for maritime manufacturing like Michigan’s M3 initiative.
The Governor also noted that China’s largest passenger plane company, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation, is now making planes that are competing with the best selling American models on the market, and is on the verge of challenging the American-owned Boeing and European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, with the company receiving funding from the Chinese government.
“This should serve as a wake-up call to this country,” she said.
“If we don’t hit the throttle while we lead in commercial and military aviation, China will pass us. That’s something we can’t afford. We must protect our lead, and Michigan is ready to do what it takes to win this. We can lean on our manufacturing expertise and skilled workforce to boost domestic aviation manufacturing,” Whitmer said, pointing to the precedent set in World War II when automakers shifted from producing cars and trucks to airplanes, tanks, guns and shells.
While Michigan is doing its part, it can’t support the aerospace and defense industry on its own Whitmer said, calling on Washington to put together a national strategy and make bipartisan investments into America’s aviation industry and workforce.
“If we are proactive, we can create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs and protect our national security, and lower costs for travelers around the world and here at home.” Whitmer said.
She also called for additional investments into semiconductor chip manufacturing, pointing to the role of the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act in boosting chip manufacturing, with the U.S. on track to make 20% of the world’s logic chips and 10% of D-RAM chips.
“Both Democrats and Republicans agree that we must stay on the bleeding edge of technology. The President even mentioned chips in his speech to Congress and set up a new United States investment accelerator to oversee semiconductor projects. We have the momentum right now, and we cannot risk stepping back or faltering. We need to continue strong, bipartisan efforts at the state and national level to make more chips,” Whitmer said.
While partisanship has infected every aspect of American lives, there’s more common ground than people think Whitmer said, pointing to the consensus between Democrats and Republicans to manufacture more goods in the U.S.
“Building an industrial economy is no small task. It’s thousands of small tasks, and each of us—government, industry, entrepreneurs, workers—we’re part of the same pit crew…. If we do our jobs, we can get America back on the track better and faster than ever,” Whitmer said.
Just as pit crews in the Detroit Grand Prix use teamwork, data driven strategies and the best products to get their car refueled, tuned up and heading toward the checkered flag as soon as possible, Whitmer said the U.S. should do the same in boosting its manufacturing economy.
“I know there’s been a lot of talk recently about government efficiency. But all the proposed solutions have been solely focused on firing people from the crew or stripping away critical parts. That’s no way to win a race. If we really want to win — and keep winning — we need to reinvest in our crew and build better parts. In our darkest hours, that’s exactly what we did,” Whitmer said, pointing to the manufacturing strategies of World War II and the coordination of Operation Warp Speed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which worked to speed up development of a vaccine for the disease.
“I still remember the pride I felt when I watched the Pfizer vaccine get packed into trucks rolling out of Portage, Michigan. People stood outside on the road even though it was bitter cold, waving the Stars and Stripes, proud of what we had done. It was an extraordinary achievement that showed us what’s possible when we work together to streamline government and allow America to do what it does best: innovate and build,” Whitmer said.
Following her speech, Whitmer sat down with journalist and Lift Our Voices Co-Founder Gretchen Carlson to talk more about tariffs, bipartisan collaboration and the state of the Democratic Party.
When asked how she would have implemented tariffs differently, Whitmer said the current approach of treating trade partners in Mexico and Canada like adversaries would cost everyone, from lost auto jobs to increased prices on cars and blueberries from Mexico.
“The big loser in this is American manufacturing and is the American consumer,” she said before underscoring the importance of enforcing the law against Chinese companies coming into the United States.
She later explained that while she agrees there should be more manufacturing in the U.S. for both the economic benefits and to stem national security concerns, the supply chains that the U.S. has built with its North American neighbors rely on a seamless flow.
“Perhaps we should be onshoring and the goal is great, but we need to be realistic. That doesn’t happen overnight. There are suppliers that are still trying to recover from inflation and COVID who are on the bubble and don’t have the resources to weather this up-and-down, uncertain time that, you know, where the rules keep changing,” Whitmer said.
While Trump’s announcement of tariffs on Canada and Mexico won support from United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, who said the levies could help bring auto jobs back to U.S. soil, Whitmer argued these efforts would harm everyone including autoworkers, pointing to the harm the auto industry has already seen from the tariffs.
Carlson noted that Whitmer could have given this speech at home in Lansing, and asked whether her trip to D.C. was an indicator of presidential ambition. However, Whitmer dismissed the notion.
“No, no. This is my way of saying —this is similar to speeches that I’ve given in Michigan too, by the way — this is, I think, a blueprint for success. This is what we did in Michigan during World War II. This is what we are capable of as a nation,” Whitmer said. “We need leadership that stays focused on doing these things so Americans can get to work doing the big manufacturing that we are falling behind on globally, so that we can harness the strength of American companies, American institutions of education and the American workforce. That’s what this is all about.”
