The numbers can tell you what is happening in the economy, but they rarely tell you why. 

For example: among college-educated women in their prime working years, Black women are the most likely to be working or looking for work. Yet they make up about 2% of private-sector managers, according to an analysis from economist Valerie Wilson, published last month by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

In other words, showing up is not the same as moving up.

This week, that institute brought a national conference on women and the economy to Detroit. Journalist Kimberly Adams was there, on a panel about Black women in leadership with Donna Brazile, the Democratic strategist who ran Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign.

Adams is host and senior editor of Marketplace Morning Report. She joined host Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss who carries the economy, who gets to lead, and when those two overlap. 

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org.

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In Michigan, it’s never a bad idea to boost your relationship with auto workers — or ties to the auto industry.

Republican Mike Rogers spent 14 years in Congress, but before that he was an FBI agent and worked on cars.

“I started out in a car factory building Chrysler LeBaron convertibles. It’s a really good car. I love that car,” Rogers told reporters in Madison Heights this week.

Rogers worked in a non-union shop in the early 1980s making modifications to already-assembled cars.

His opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, is more white collar. He holds medical and public health degrees. However, he has blue collar backing — specifically, the United Auto Workers union.

In an interview with Michigan Public Radio, UAW President Shawn Fain explained why El-Sayed is the choice for the union’s nearly 1 million current and retired members.

“We’ve got to elect people that give a damn about workers, and not billionaires and corporate-class people,” Fain said. “I mean, and unfortunately, our political system has been hijacked by the richest people in the world.”

Michigan’s U.S. Senate race could help decide the balance of power in Washington D.C. next year. The ongoing trade war between the U.S. and Canada is just simmering under the surface. 

Tariffs aren’t always the bad guy

Fain doesn’t outwardly dislike certain taxes on imports.

“We support strategic targeted tariffs. Blanket tariffs on everything under the sun, or tariffs just to force a country to do something for political reasons? That makes no sense whatsoever,” Fain said.

“And the 50% on Canada, we don’t agree with that. Like Canada is not the problem.”

The Trump administration has placed 50% tariffs on $27.6 billion in Canadian goods and materials. The Canadian government has responded with equal levies.

A strained relationship

Marchers at this month’s Labor Day Parade in Detroit weren’t happy about the tariffs or how we’re treating our closest trade partner. Retired tool and dye man Stan Geis was one of many who carried a sign emblazoned with images of an American flag and the Canadian maple leaf.

The message: “Solidarity. We stand with our neighbor.”  

“I liked when we had the trade across the border … with men working in our country from Canada (going) back and forth. It was good. Now it just stinks.”

That’s not to say the relationship between the UAW and the workers of UNIFOR — the Canadian auto workers union — hasn’t hit some potholes.

John D’Agnolo is the president of UNIFOR Local 200 across the border in Windsor. Southern Ontario is home to factories of several major automakers.  

He says American autoworkers sometimes have the wrong idea.  

“They think that we’re taking from them when we’re not.”

D’Agnolo has just wrapped up a grueling two weeks in contract negotiations with automaker Stellantis. 

They’re not going well. Stellantis aims to sell an idled Jeep plant in Brampton, Ontario, to an armored car company.

D’Agnolo said the inconsistent tariffs are making the bargaining process more difficult.

“The challenge with these tariffs and not knowing what you’re going to get from day to day,” D’Agnolo said. “Companies are not going to invest in new programs.”

Uncertainty in Canada

Windsorites get all the Michigan political ads from Detroit-area TV stations. D’Agnolo said the current political climate is only fueling anxiety.

“You have to turn off the TV because you don’t want to hear it because it becomes your life. It becomes now you got mental issues because you’re worried,” D’Agnolo said.

“So yeah, it’s horrible right now.”

Opposite sides

In the U.S. Senate race, the two main party candidates are on opposite sides of the trade war.

El-Sayed doesn’t like that President Trump picked a fight with Canada.

“There’s a way that tariffs could be used to actually protect jobs. This ain’t it. Like all things Donald Trump, it is chaotic, ham-fisted, self-serving,” El-Sayed said.

El-Sayed points out that his Republican opponent was an advocate for free trade until this latest round of tariffs.

For his part, Rogers told C-SPAN this week he plans to collaborate with Trump in a way El-Sayed will not.

“I will go back to work with the president on tariffs that are working and work with the president on tariffs that are not working,” Rogers said.

“You know, my opponent, all he wants to do is fight with Trump.”

Cost of tariffs

A conservative free market organization, the National Taxpayers Union Foundation — says President Trump’s tariffs are costing Michigan households an extra $5,600 per year. 

That’s the third-highest in the nation behind California and Texas.

Steve Grigorian heads the influential Detroit Economic Club. He thinks that could play a role in the election. 

“We’re business people, but we go to the grocery store, we go to fill up our gas tank. So it’s definitely top of mind. I think it will definitely be top of mind as people go to the polls”

Ballots for the November election were sent out this week. Election Day is less than six weeks away.

Originally published by Michigan Public Radio. 

As the Iran war continues, gas prices hit a weekly average of $4.88 in Metro Detroit. The average price of diesel is $2 more than that.

The stock market is strong, but inflation is at least 1% higher than the federal reserve’s target. And the U.S. is in a trade war with Canada. 

This hasn’t caused a recession. But all of this does make it harder for small businesses to operate, like the corner bar on your street, and the auto repair shop in your suburb.

Mark Lee runs The Lee Group, where he’s been advising small businesses in this region for nearly 20 years. He explored answers to these questions with The Metro’s Sam Corey

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org.

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Detroit’s economy and population are likely to grow over the next five years.

But city residents will also face significant disparities in wages.

That’s the finding from a recent forecast of the Motor City’s financial future compiled by researchers at the University of Michigan.

Highly-regarded expert Dan Manaenkov helped examine Detroit’s economic picture.

He says Michigan’s largest city already has one distinct advantage over the rest of the state: a younger workforce. The wider state is losing workers to retirement.

“Michigan has been losing labor force to the tune of 3% year over year,” says Manaenkov. 

In the long term, Manaenkov is less optimistic about Detroit’s economy. “Detroit is not an isolated economy… in the longer run, it is a lot more sensitive to how the over all Michigan is doing.” He also says that Detroiter’s on average make less money, leading to continuing wage disparity.

Chaos. That’s the trend line in the auto sector of our economy. A war in Iran has raised gas prices. A Trump administration antagonistic to electric vehicles has reshaped the auto industry, causing Stellantis, General Motors and Ford to lose a combined $52 billion as they’ve shifted away from their electric investments. 

And through it all, the Trump administration has enacted tariffs. Recently, they’ve gotten steeper. 

In August, America enacted new tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel. Canada responded with tariffs on many US goods, including those aforementioned products. 

Meanwhile, the price of cars — especially used cars — are increasing.

What do these trends mean for auto companies and auto workers? How are customers affected? And, how are both parties trying to adapt to rapidly changing policies?

Paul Eisenstein is the editor of headlight.news. He’s also the publisher and editor of “The Car Collective” Substack. He spoke with The Metro‘s Sam Corey.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org.

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Many have an opinion about Detroit’s Renaissance Center.

Some view it as ugly, detached from the city, and with General Motors having moved out, they believe it should be redeveloped.

And then there are people who like the RenCen. They see its tallest towers as an emblem of the city. They’re often the same people who argue that pouring public money into its redevelopment will detract from other priorities — things like schools, public transit, and housing that teachers and nurses can afford.

This question — whether a large public-private project is worth it for the public — has come into sharper focus. That’s because GM and Bedrock are now asking for just under $550 million to subsidize the redevelopment of the RenCen. That’s up from about $350 million when they first announced the plan.

Jared Fleisher is the CEO of Bedrock. He spoke about the plan with The Metro’s Robyn Vincent. Later, Anne Goulet joined the conversation. She is the principal of two firms, ARGitct and Anne R Goulet Architecture and Design.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org.

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Canada is imposing huge tariffs on a variety of U.S. products, as a response to President Trump’s recent series of 50 % tariffs on certain Canadian goods.

And a coalition of business groups says Michigan is feeling the brunt of the trade war.

The Michigan Smart Trade Alliance champions good trade relations with other countries, especially Canada.

The group’s Mark Fisk says, in just one example, some parents got a good taste recently of what the current tariffs meant for returning students.

Interview edited for length and clarity.

Mark Fisk: For many Michigan families, this time of year means back to school shopping. And, unfortunately, due to the increased tariffs, it also means higher costs. Many basic school supplies, from pencils and crayons to binders and folders, are much more expensive due to the tariffs.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: How high of a price increase are we talking?

MF: We’ve seen double digit increases for many, many items. Rubber erasers are up, pencils and crayons are up, backpacks are up, on and on across the board. Scissors, binders, they’re all up. And that is in line with general cost increases due to the tariffs. No state has been hit harder than Michigan because of our current trade policies. That has meant really bad news for families, retailers, farmers and small businesses.

QK: How are you tying the increased tariffs to this increased price in school supplies?

MF: We simply did an analysis of the before and after. The picture that emerges is very, very clear. The tariffs are having a huge increase on not just school supplies but clothing, soccer balls and all kinds of ordinary items that families need as they go back to school. And that is bad news for families, bad news for retailers, and bad news for businesses.

QK: And the data that you’re gathering this from, if I understand you correctly, says that tariffs have increased by “X” percent and these prices have increased as well. So you’re that’s how you’re tying those together?

MF: That is exactly right. And, again, no state’s been hit harder than Michigan by the current trade policy. It’s hurt our tourism industry, Quinn. We’ve had reduced foot traffic because of some of the trade wars and the tensions between ourselves and Canada. And that tourism industry fuels mom and pop businesses like restaurants, hotels, motels, gas stations. The current trade policy has been a disaster for Michigan families.

QK: So, in your group’s view then, what would you see as the remedy for this?

MF: We need Congress to act. We need Congress to take the reins and begin enacting smart, consistent trade policies. That means trade policies that lower costs instead of raise costs, trade policies that create jobs instead of kill jobs. And we need a trade policy that preserves our relationship with Canada. Canada’s a top export partner for the nation and for Michigan. We have a long-standing partnership with Canada and it works better for businesses, for everyone, if we are working together in partnership on trade rather than in a trade war with tensions and higher costs.

QK: Your alliance has been known for trying to protect Michigan’s trade relationship with Canada. It’s no secret things are a bit tense on that front right now, since the president launched new tariffs recently, basically on his own. You mentioned Congress reining them in, but do you see anything truly on a congressional or any other level that can actually affect what tariffs the President wants to impose or doesn’t want to?

MF: We have traveled all over the state with the Smart Trade Alliance. And I think it begins with getting out there and listening to the impact that the tariffs are having on businesses, on agriculture, hotels and restaurants, on the retailers. And then we have to look at working together in a bipartisan fashion to enact trade policies that give our economy a shot in the arm. Instead of the current approach, the erratic approach, which is shooting ourselves in the foot.

For the first time, truckers running between Detroit and Windsor have a choice of bridges — and the two crossings are competing for that business.

A semi pays about half as much to cross the new Gordie Howe Bridge as it does the Ambassador: roughly $35, versus $75.

But that’s a toll — what you pay to drive across. It has nothing to do with what is in the truck, and what is in the truck is about to get expensive. 

On Aug. 19, an additional 50% tariff is set to hit a long list of Canadian goods, among them wine, dairy, cement and hockey sticks. In other words, a business might save $40 getting a load across the river, then pay thousands more for the load itself.

So who actually comes out ahead here?

Mark Lee runs The Lee Group, where he has advised small businesses in this region for nearly 20 years. He joins host Robyn Vincent to talk tolls, tariffs, Delray, and whether Canadian visitors are coming back.

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have thoughts? Email the show at metro@wdet.org

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