Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) slammed President Donald Trump on Sunday, criticizing the administration’s tariff uncertainty with Canada as trade talks between Washington and Ottawa failed.
Tariffs Causing Fuel, Grocery Price Hikes
In a post on the social media platform X, Whitmer said that Michigan residents were “uniquely impacted by DC Republicans’ ongoing, chaotic tariff wars with Canada.” She added that the tariffs resulted in “a tax hike on Michigan families and businesses by raising prices at the grocery store and the gas pump.”
According to data from the American Automobile Association (AAA), the average price for a gallon of gas in Michigan was $4.1570 on Sunday.
In the same thread, Whitmer added that the uncertainty could also result in job losses in the auto industry. “Companies – especially our auto manufacturers – face the difficult decision of laying off workers or passing costs onto their customers,” Whitmer said.
She added that the customers were “already suffering because of the GOP’s gamesmanship. This must end,” she said. Notably, Trump administration officials like Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that tariffs would bring jobs back into the U.S. auto manufacturing sector.
On the other hand, Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has touted affordability in the U.S. sector due to the tariffs and domestic manufacturing push. “Michiganders literally cannot afford to keep paying these Republican tariff taxes,” Whitmer said in the thread.
According to a Bloomberg report on Sunday, Canada’s Ambassador to the U.S., Mark Wiseman, said that there was no single issue that led to the collapse of the talks between the two countries. “What we discovered was that our understanding of what had been agreed to was quite different from what was showing up in the documents,” he said.
Canada, according to the report, wanted tariff relief on medium and heavy duty vehicles. “We want to protect the existence of an automotive assembly industry in Canada for cars, light trucks…medium trucks and heavy-duty trucks,” Wiseman said in the report. The use of the French language was also an issue, the report said.
Trump Slams Canada Over Tariffs
On Sunday, Trump criticized Canada as talks failed and the U.S. imposed a 50% tariff on Canadian goods. Taking to the social media platform Truth Social, the President said that Canada wanted “the benefits of being a state, without being one.” His comments came after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney imposed retaliatory tariffs on the U.S.
Meanwhile, Duffy questioned Canada’s decision to impose tariffs on the U.S. “To think that they’re going to go to war with Donald Trump and actually win that war with the U.S., I think it’s foolish on their part,” he said.
On the other hand, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) slammed the Trump administration, saying failed talks and tariffs would only raise costs for American families and businesses.
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