notices steel companies filed with the state the states primary metals manufacturing industry which includes iron and steel mills employed about 7300 fewer workers in august than in march 2018 when trump announced metal tariffs according to data from federal reserve bank of st louis the steelindustry setbacks account for just a fraction of the job losses in michigans manufacturing sector which now employs 55100 fewer workers than it did when trump took office in january 2017 us labor department data shows the states automotive industry accounted for 35 of the manufacturing job losses according to the st louis fed whether such statistics will change swingstate voters minds remains to be seen bill wischman a financial manager at a ford manufacturing facility in plymouth michigan says trump has done more to protect us manufacturing than any of his predecessors he has given a wholehearted effort said wischman 51 a republican who voted for trump in 2016 bob kemper grievance committee chairman at great lakes works chapter of the united steelworkers usw union put the blame squarely on trump for the job losses i dont see any policy that helped us said kemper who is backing biden we are losing our damn jobs here the 12 millionmember united steelworkers usw union which represents us manufacturing workers in many industries supported clinton in the last election and will again back the democrat this time kemper acknowledged that many of his coworkers voted for trump in 2016 but says that support has diminished along with the fortunes of michigans steel industry trump made similar 2016 campaign promises to revive the ailing coal industry by rolling back environmental regulations but that industrys employment has dropped 9 since 2016 to about 46000 as 66 coal plants nearly a fifth of the us total have closed the economic losses come despite the administrations moves to ease restrictions including limits on carbon emissions and dumping coal waste into streams the republican party in michigan did not respond to requests for comment white house trade and manufacturing policy director peter navarro did not answer questions from reuters on the data showing job losses in steel and manufacturing when us steel idled great lakes works which primarily serves the automotive industry it cited weak demand lower steel prices and a new corporate strategy to invest in more costefficient technology in may clevelandcliffs inc said it was closing its hot strip steel mill and some other operations in the detroit area and laying off 343 workers it cited rapidly deteriorating business conditions a clevelandcliffs spokeswoman did not answer questions about the impact of trumps trade policy on its business us steel defends trumps tariffs company spokeswoman meghan cox said the policy helps ensure the strength of americas steelmaking capacity during this pandemic the firms shares have plunged about 82 since the beginning of march 2018 the month trump announced steel tariffs compared with a 28 increase in the sp 500 during the same period us