Michigan built something to be proud of, but with a new administration taking over the White House next year, doubts about the financial prognosis for 2025 continue to arise.

This comes as President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff stance continues to loom over the country’s economic destiny.

Trump indicated in November that he planned to slap new tariffs on three of the United States’ largest trading partners, with China receiving a potential 10% duty on all imported goods and Mexico and Canada receiving a 25% increase.

That might mean difficulties for the US economy.

“Most of the time, what we expect to find is that the consumer ends up paying for the majority of the tariff,” said Matt Ross, a Western Michigan University finance professor. “These tariff policies, there’s a lot of uncertainty, but if they’re implemented, that could add some fuel to the fire, so I think there’s a real possibility of a recession generally.”

That is not good news for many consumers at this moment, as commodity prices continue to rise.

“I mean, the last four years we’ve seen massive increases in the price of groceries, and it’s been difficult,” said Isaac Frampton, a Grand Rapids resident.

And the impact might be felt in and around the mitten, especially since Michigan and Canada have one of the best trading partnerships of any US state, particularly with Ontario.

“Michigan exports an awful lot to Canada,” Ross informed me. “The Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo markets are both important exporters, shipping billions of dollars annually to Canada. So, if this is enacted, I believe it will harm the Michigan economy.

The prospective price increase could be felt from the grocery store to the petrol pump, which many Michigan residents are unprepared for.

“I’ve seen, you know, a bottle of pvc glue go from about three bucks to seven, eight bucks,” said Alejandro, a Grand Rapids resident. “I know, for the same size. It hurts my pockets because I can’t justify charging my consumers this much for this XYZ.”

Trump’s team met with members of Canada’s cabinet on Friday evening to discuss the upcoming tariff increases, but no pledges were made at this time.

Trump said last month that tariffs will go into effect on January 20th.

Source