NEW YORK (AP) — Nelson Vandermeer voted Republican for decades but balked at supporting President Donald Trump, fearing that the Republican’s plan for tariffs on imports would hurt workers more than help.
asserted
plan → vote → workers
Last year, Vandermeer’s premonition came true in a very personal way.
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premonition → come → way
The 62-year-old lost his job as a product designer at Howard Miller, a clockmaker that relied on parts produced overseas.
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that → lose → parts
After a century in business, the company in Zeeland, Michigan, closed its factory, sold off its inventory and brand name and laid off nearly 200 workers.
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company → close → workers
“So much for bringing jobs back,” Vandermeer said.
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Vandermeer → bring → jobs
Next month, he plans to vote straight Democrat in the midterms.
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he → plan → midterms
As if an unpopular war with Iran and persistent inflation were not enough trouble for Republicans, they are confronting a backlash over the tariffs that Trump made a cornerstone of his economic agenda.
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Trump → confront → agenda
He promised that charging higher taxes on imports would spur a factory renaissance in the United States, but that has not come to pass.
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that → promise → States
Although the country has added manufacturing jobs so far this year, the sector has fewer employees than when Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.
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Trump → add → January
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers insisted that a factory boom is underway, citing increases in manufacturing output and more work in certain nonresidential construction trades.
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boom → insist → trades
“Factory construction jobs of today mean more manufacturing jobs down the road once those factories come online,” she said.
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she → mean → road
Even before the tariffs, Howard Miller struggled as Americans lost their taste for fancy timepieces such as its signature grandfather and mantel clocks.
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Americans → struggle → grandfather
So the company broadened its offerings years ago to include bar carts, cabinets and consoles.
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company → broaden → carts
But those products also depended on glass and other parts from abroad, and diversification did not ensure survival.
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diversification → depend → survival
“I could still have a job, but now I don’t because of tariffs,” Vandermeer said.
uncertain
Vandermeer → have → tariffs
“It was like taking a knife to the back.”
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It → take → back
Job losses pile up in battleground states
Vandermeer lives in Michigan’s 4th Congressional District, which is represented by Republican Bill Huizenga, who is running for a ninth term in the Nov. 3 election.
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who → pile → election
Before Trump implemented his broadest set of tariffs last year, on what the president called “Liberation Day,” Huizenga was supportive.
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Huizenga → implement → what
“Is it going to be easy?
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it → go → ?
Is it the right thing to do?
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it → do → ?
Absolutely it is,” he told reporters at the time.
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he → tell → time
A spokesperson for Huizenga said last week that the congressman “sees a potential role for tariffs” for boosting domestic manufacturing “while recognizing the need to address their broader economic effects.”
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congressman → say → effects
His Democratic opponent, state Sen. Sean McCann, has criticized the incumbent for opposing legislation that would rein in tariffs that Trump imposed unilaterally.
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Trump → criticize → that
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There are similar issues in competitive races in Kansas, Iowa and Ohio, where Republican acquiescence could hurt the party on Election Day as their constituents face factory layoffs, farm foreclosures and higher prices.
uncertain
constituents → get → layoffs
Tracy Chew, 55, voted for Trump in 2016, then for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 and Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024.
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Chew → vote → 2024
She used to work for Case, a backhoe manufacturer, but the company announced before the tariffs that it would close its plant in Burlington, Iowa.
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it → use → Burlington
She lost her job in April, as did her daughter, followed by husband and son-in-law over the next few weeks.
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daughter → lose → weeks
Chew is leaning toward voting for Democrats again this year, feeling that Trump let them down.
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Trump → lean → them
“I’m furious he isn’t doing enough,” she said.
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she → ’m → enough
“Tariffs are not targeting the right companies, the right amount.”
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Tariffs → target → companies
Layoffs in Iowa have piled up elsewhere.
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Layoffs → pile → Iowa
Winnebago Industries, which produces recreational vehicles like campers, cut 200 jobs last year after the cost of importing aluminum, steel and electronics increased by tens of millions of dollars.
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cost → produce → dollars
“It’s a day to day battle,” said Michael Happe, the company’s chief executive.
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Happe → ’ → day
In the tight race for an open U.S. Senate seat in Iowa, U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson faces Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek.
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Hinson → face → Turek
There is a close contest, too, in Kansas, where Democrat Adam Hamilton, the pastor of the largest United Methodist Church in the U.S., is trying to unseat Republican Roger Marshall.
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Hamilton → be → Marshall
Cole Hoppock, chief executive of appliance maker Vornado Air in Wichita, Kansas, said Trump’s tariffs “impacted virtually everything.”
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tariffs → say → everything
The company known for its retro household fans laid off more than 70 factory workers in February, blaming higher prices for imported parts.
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company → know → parts
Trump’s trade policy could force cutbacks soon at another Kansas employer, Canadian jet manufacturer Bombardier.
uncertain
policy → force → employer
Trump has threatened to ban the company’s sales in the U.S. if Bombardier does not start making all its planes in the U.S.
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Bombardier → threaten → U.S.
Bombardier said it buys parts from 2,800 companies in 47 states, including in Kansas, where it employs more than 1,000 people
Trump’s approach to trade is unpopular
Trump has spent years complaining that other countries are ripping off the U.S. when it comes to trade.
asserted
it → say → trade
…and 26 more, not listed.
The Aporia
