More than 60 percent of likely voters in Michigan, home to several highly competitive midterm elections, oppose President Donald Trump’s 50 percent tariffs on Canadian products, according to a new poll by The Washington Post and Schar School.
Approval of Trump’s tariffs trended along party lines: Michigan Democrats overwhelmingly oppose the tariffs (89 percent) while a majority of Republicans in the state support them (56 percent), according to the poll of around 800 people conducted from Sept. 10 to 14.
But the policy is unpopular among the state’s independents, who could determine the outcome of key races, with 68 percent saying they disapprove of Trump’s tariffs on Canada.
The president’s escalating trade war with Canada affects just 6 percent of $715 billion in annual cross-border trade between the two nations. But the tariffs’ impact is especially salient in the Great Lakes State, where automotive companies and their suppliers have built deeply integrated supply chains with their neighbors across the Canadian border.
The dispute ramped up in July, when Trump announced that he would impose 50 percent tariffs on some Canadian goods — a move the administration said was a response to Canadian retaliation to Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs imposed in April 2025. They took effect late last month, hitting alcohol, dairy products and a long list of other Canadian imports.
Canada retaliated on Sept. 8 with new tariffs on U.S. goods, including aluminum, dairy, agricultural equipment, plastics, paper products and appliances. Trump immediately threatened to ban the import of some Canadian alcohol, motorcycles, molasses and other products beginning Sept. 29.
In Michigan, which did more than $66 billion in trade with Canada last year, Canadian tariffs on American steel and aluminum, nuts and bolts, rods for steering wheels and other small parts can boost costs and create uncertainty for an array of manufacturers.
“It’s just an escalation that is moving us economically in the wrong direction,” said Glenn Stevens, executive director of MichAuto, an advocacy group for the state’s auto industry. “We are far stronger with Canada than separate from them.”
In a statement, White House spokesman Kush Desai defended the tariffs, saying “America’s heartland states like Michigan have been some of the worst hit by unfair foreign trade practices, including by Canada, and were resoundingly won by President Trump because of his pledge to put American workers, farmers, and businesses first.”
The Washington Post poll also reflected the importance of broader economic issues in the state’s midterm elections, with nearly half of likely Michigan voters listing the cost of living as their top issue. It was the most important issue for both Democrats and Republicans.
Among those who listed cost-of-living as their top issue, 56 percent said they had a favorable opinion of Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for an open U.S. Senate seat, while 37 percent said they had a favorable opinion of the Republican candidate, former U.S. congressman Mike Rogers.
The U.S. Senate race is one of several highly competitive congressional elections in Michigan on Nov. 3, when control of Congress hangs in the balance. Four House seats also are ranked as competitive by the Cook Political Report. In addition, a survey released Thursdayshows Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, locked in a tight race for governor with Republican John James, a former congressman.
With the election a little more than six weeks off, just 23 percent of likely Michigan voters say they are better off since Trump returned to office, while 44 percent say they are not as well off. The gap was slightly wider among political independents, with nearly half (47 percent) saying they are not as well off with Trump back in power while 20 percent said they are better off.
Trump has visited several key midterm states this year to tout what he views as the administration’s economic successes, including lower income taxes, new child investment accounts and tax breaks for businesses, seniors, overtime pay and tips. “This has been the most successful two years, financially and every other way, in the history of the presidency,” Trump said in a speech last week at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas.
But independent polls consistently show that consumers are not happy about the economy. Expectations for both personal finances and business conditions in the year ahead dropped in the University of Michigan’s September Survey of Consumers due to trade tensions and increased fuel prices after improving over the summer.
Consumer confidence in the economy is now 16 percent lower than in February, before the start of Trump’s war with Iran.
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