NEW YORK (AP) — Nelson Vandermeer voted Republican for decades but was reluctant to support President Donald Trumpfearing that the republican project regarding customs duties on imports would harm workers more than help them.
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 Millera watchmaker who relied on parts produced abroad. After a century in business, the Zeeland, Michigan, company closed its factory, sold its inventory and brand and laid off nearly 200 workers.
“So much for bringing back jobs,” Vandermeer said. Next month, he plans to vote straight Democratic halfway through.
As if an unpopular war with Iran And persistent inflation were not enough problem for republicansthey are faced with a negative reaction on prices that Trump has made him the cornerstone of his economic program. He promised that imposing higher taxes on imports would spur a renaissance of factories in the United States, but that did not happen. 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.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers insisted an industrial boom was underway, citing an increase in manufacturing production and an increase in work in some nonresidential construction trades. “Factory construction jobs today mean more manufacturing jobs in the future, once these factories are up and running,” she said.
Even before the tariffs, Howard Miller struggled as Americans lost their taste for luxury watches such as his iconic grandfather clocks and mantel clocks. So the company expanded its offerings years ago to include bar carts, cabinets and consoles.
But these products also depended on glass and other parts imported from abroad, and diversification did not ensure their survival.
“I could always have a job, but now I don’t because of the tariffs,” Vandermeer said. “It was like taking a knife to the back.”
Job losses pile up in battleground states
Vandermeer lives in Michigan’s 4th Congressional District, represented by Republican Bill Huizenga, who is running for a ninth term in the Nov. 3 election.
Before Trump implemented his broadest set of tariffs last year, on what the president called “Liberation Day” Huizenga was supportive.
“Is it going to be easy? Not necessarily. Is it the right thing to do? Absolutely,” he told reporters at the time.
A spokesperson for Huizenga said last week that the congressman “sees the potential role of tariffs” in boosting domestic manufacturing “while recognizing the need to address their broader economic effects.” His Democratic opponent, Senator Sean McCann, criticized the outgoing president for his opposition to legislation that would limit tariffs unilaterally imposed by Trump.
Similar issues arise in elections in Kansas, Iowa and Ohio, where Republican acquiescence could hurt the party on Election Day as their voters face factory layoffs, farm foreclosures and higher prices.
Tracy Chew, 55, voted for Trump in 2016, then for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 and for Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024.
She worked for Case, a maker of backhoes, but the company announced before the tariffs that it would close its Burlington, Iowa, plant. She lost her job in April, as did her daughter, followed by her husband and son-in-law in the following weeks.
Chew is inclined to vote for Democrats again this year, believing that Trump has let them down.
“I’m furious that he’s not doing enough,” she said. “The tariffs do not target the right companies, nor the right amount. »
Layoffs in Iowa have piled up elsewhere.
Winnebago Industries, which produces recreational vehicles like campers, cut 200 jobs last year after the cost of importing aluminum, steel and electronics rose by tens of millions of dollars.
“It’s a daily struggle,” said Michael Happe, the company’s chief executive.
In the close race For an open U.S. Senate seat in Iowa, U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson faces Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek. There is also a close fight in Kansas, where Democrats Adam Hamiltonthe pastor of the largest United Methodist Church in the United States, is trying to unseat Republican Roger Marshall.
Cole Hoppock, chief executive of appliance maker Vornado Air in Wichita, Kansas, said Trump’s tariffs “are impacting virtually everything.” The company known for its retro fans laid off more than 70 workers in February, blaming the rising prices of imported parts.
Trump’s trade policies could soon force workforce reductions at another Kansas employer, Canadian plane maker Bombardier. Trump has threatened to ban the company’s sales in the United States if Bombardier does not start making all of its planes in the United States Bombardier said it buys parts from 2,800 companies in 47 states, including Kansas, where it employs more than 1,000 people
Trump’s approach to trade is unpopular
Trump has complained for years that other countries are gouging the United States on trade. Most economists say he’s wrong and that its remedy – expanded universal tariffs – would cause more pain than help.
Today, most Americans disagree with Trump’s approach, according to the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. A September survey showed that about 3 in 10 American adults approve of Trump’s handling of trade negotiations, up from 4 in 10 in March.
Some of the tariffs imposed by Trump have been haphazard.
He targeted Brazil over political differences and raised tariffs on China to such extreme levels that they risked a recession and forced the president to step down. In February, the Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s emergency declaration to impose his “Liberation Day” tariffs last year, leaving foreign trade unstable as the administration continues to adapt with new levies and threats.
Tariffs are far from the only reason manufacturing jobs are being lost, and factories have been laying off workers for decades, with or without them. Even some Republicans who don’t like Trump’s approach won’t split from the party.
Bicycle Corp. of America, which closed its South Carolina factory last year, blamed the price hike on imported parts. Koby Bird, who retired after working in quality control, likes tariffs but is frustrated by Trump’s habit of raising and lowering them seemingly at will.
“It was everywhere,” Bird said. “Businesses couldn’t plan.”
Next month, Bird will likely remain on the Republican side, including US Senator Darline Graham, because tariffs are just one problem and he thinks Democrats would spend too much money on the wrong things.
Ernie Goss, an economist at Creighton University in Nebraska, said manufacturing problems may not turn into Democratic victories. He added that some people might “think that tariffs will work in the long term.”
Some workers could turn against Trump
Wendell Young, a union leader in Pennsylvania, where several factories have been laid off, said he senses a backlash among workers.
Last summer, Young said he received a storm of angry responses to his email blaming tariffs for Post Holdings’ decision to cut 160 jobs at a local pet food factory.
“Keep politics out of it,” wrote one of the workers at the Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, factory. “President Trump is not the reason.”
“People were beating me because I didn’t support Trump. I haven’t heard that in a year,” said Young, president of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 1776. “Some of these people are red Republicans and they’re shocked. They expected more jobs.”
Post Holdings eventually agreed to reduce the workforce by offering severance packages to people if they left, but the decline in production had a ripple effect.
Local can maker Trivium Packaging decided to cut several jobs because it was receiving fewer orders from the Postal Service and other companies, according to Young’s union.
“I understand the mindset behind the pricing, but I just don’t know if it works,” said Heather Kingston, a former Trivium employee. She joined another company before the layoffs and her husband still works at Trivium. “There doesn’t seem to be a lot of manufacturing jobs coming into the area,” she said.
Kingston said she voted for Republican Dan Meuser in the 9th District last time, but had second thoughts this year. Meuser’s seat is considered safe, but other races in the state are up for grabs, including in the 7th and 8th districts, which are close to the Post and Trivium factories.
Gn usa
