The on-again, off-again nature of tariffs being imposed by the United States isn’t only having negative effects on large businesses.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used her appearance at the Detroit Economic Club Monday to support smaller businesses being negatively affected by the tariff strategy and the “whiplash in the economy” she said it’s causing.
Businesses, especially smaller ones, she said, need more “certainty” than they’re getting right now.
“It’s really hard to understate how much harm the current economic strategy will cost Tier Two and Tier Three businesses,” Whitmer said. “There are more than a thousand of these businesses in Michigan. They sponsor little league teams and help the local high school band go to Disneyland.
“These businesses are often the largest employers in their towns,” she added. “They’re the backbone that they come. They need help to weather the storm, not only to protect local economies, but also to improve our state’s competitiveness.”
The good news, Whitmer said, is that there are “hundreds of millions more federal dollars” specifically for those suppliers that is still on the table at the Department of Energy in Washington.
“If we effectively use the money we’ve already won and bring more manufacturing jobs home, I’m confident that we can persuade them to send us a heck of a lot more,” she said. “I’ll continue to do my part, even showing up in places that have not necessarily expected to be showing on that, and we’ll navigate the national economic uncertainty together while we all have to be a part of this.”
Whitmer spent much of her 22-minute speech talking about the state of Michigan’s roads. According to Whitmer:
- In Wayne County. Just 18% of roads are considered good.
- In Macomb and 16 other counties, more than 50% of the roads are in poor condition.
- Statewide, just two counties have more than half their roads in good condition.
- Drivers in Detroit, she said, face the highest road related costs at more than $3,000 bucks a year.
“When roads are broken, businesses suffer,” Whitmer said. “Shipments and supplies are delayed more often and workers face longer commutes. Our communities suffer as well. The ratio of dollars our cities need to fix their local roads versus the amount they received is startling.”
In Rochester Hills, it’s 20-1, she said, while in Sterling Heights the ratio is 25-1, in Farmington Hills 30-1 and in Warren, the state’s third-largest city, it’s 32-1.
“We need a sustainable long-term solution covering our local roads and our state roads,” Whitmer said. “A reliable transportation network means deliveries show on time. Our roads are the foundation.”
Whitmer also took a few minutes to poke a little fun at herself about an incident that happened in the Oval Office on her recent trip to Washington, D.C., when a New York Times photographer caught Whitmer holding blue file folders over her face during a press conference.
Pundits across social media took turns guessing what her motivation was. Whitmer said Monday there really wasn’t one.
“I don’t want my picture taken,” she said. “That’s all it was. I kinda wish I hadn’t put my folder up in front of my face. But … whatever.
“I just wrote a book about learning to laugh at yourself (“True Gretch,” published last year),” she added. “So I’m pretty good at it.”
