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News that a local steel manufacturing company would soon pour $43.4 million into expanding its Michigan-based operations prompted praise from the White House — but not for the state’s Democratic governor.
“Democrats like Gretchen Whitmer spent decades talking about fixing broken trade deals and creating manufacturing jobs here in America for American workers,” Kush Desai, a White House spokesperson, told Fox News Digital, referring to the Michigan governor who is often floated as a potential Democratic candidate for president in 2028.
“President Trump is actually delivering — and he’s delivering with the same agenda of tariffs, deregulation.”
The investment underscores President Donald Trump’s recent restructuring on tariffs for steel, aluminum and copper — even as both parties claimed victory over Michigan’s expanding steel production.
TRUMP’S LATEST MOVE PROVES HIS MANUFACTURING GOLDEN AGE IS JUST FOOLS’ GOLD
President Donald Trump, left, pictured alongside Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, right. (Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images; Monica Morgan/Getty Images)
“Michigan is on the move and open for business, competing for and winning big projects in industries like steel manufacturing,” Whitmer said in a statement.
The investment, made by the Adrian Steel Company, would create at least 40 new jobs as the company expands its existing facilities in the southeast part of the state through a new 112,000-square-foot addition, according to the governor’s office.
The venture is Adrian Steel’s largest expansion since 1953, according to Whitmer’s office.
“The expansion will enhance Adrian Steel’s manufacturing capabilities with additional space dedicated to raw material storage, cutting, forming, welding, painting, assembly, office functions and shipping operations,” Whitmer’s office said in a press release.
Whitmer’s office said the State had attracted the expansion, in part, through state-level incentives.
The state will bolster Adrian Steel’s venture through a State Essential Services Assessment (SESA), a kind of tax break for manufacturers that could be worth up to $228,750, according to Whitmer’s office.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, Calif., on April 27, 2025. (Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)
In the past, Whitmer has looked critically on Trump’s tariffs, claiming that their overall effect has hindered industry development in Michigan.
“The pain of these increased costs from tariffs has not been offset by any of the promised economic gain,” Whitmer said in a press release earlier this month. “Michigan’s industries have been hit hard, with a recent analysis finding that the tariffs cost U.S. automakers $35 billion last year. Tariffs are estimated to have cost working families $1,000 per year.”
Under Trump’s re-worked tariff framework announced earlier this month, products made almost entirely of aluminum, steel or copper would pay a flat 50% tariff on their full value, while derivatives made only mostly of one of those elements would only pay 25%.
The new parameters also create lower rates for foreign products sourced from American materials and drop the tariffs entirely for products comprised of less than 15% steel, aluminum or copper.
TRUMP SAYS THOSE AGAINST TARIFFS ‘SERVING HOSTILE FOREIGN INTERESTS,’ ‘FULL BENEFIT’ YET TO BE SEEN
President Donald Trump makes a fist upon arrival at Miami International Airport in Miami, on April 11, 2026. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
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“This buildout — and the continued health of these vital American industries — is only possible through the continued implementation and strengthening of the President’s Section 232 tariff programs,” the White House said.
Whitmer’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
