The Metro: How will Trump’s tariffs affect Michigan’s auto industry?
Lauren Myers, David Leins, The Metro March 5, 2025Automotive News reporter John Irwin joined the show to discuss how automakers will respond to the administration’s 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

Inside the Flex-N-Gate manufacturing plant in Detroit.
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The Trump administration’s tariffs on Canada and Mexico went into effect this week, despite economists concerns that the 25% tax on goods could be detrimental to the U.S. and its trading partners.
Shortly after Trump announced the tariffs, Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a retaliatory plan to implement a 10% tariff on Canadian energy, adding that he’s willing to cut off electricity exports to the U.S. if Trump’s tariffs against Canada move forward.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his country would respond with tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods over the course of 21 days.
The tariffs will impact wide swaths of the U.S. economy, with the auto industries in metro Detroit and Ontario expected to be hit especially hard.
To discuss those risks and how automakers are responsing, Automotive News reporter John Irwin joined The Metro.
Hear more stories from The Metro on Wednesday, March 5, 2025.
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David Leins is the senior producer of WDET’s daily news and culture program, The Metro. He has produced several award-winning podcasts and multimedia series at WDET including Tracked and Traced, Science of Grief and COVID Diaries, which earned a National Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Innovation. He previously led WDET’s StoryMakers program. David has an M.A. in Media Arts and Studies from Wayne State University, and a B.A. in anthropology from Grand Valley State University with a minor in Arabic. David teaches podcasting at Wayne State University and is an alumnus of the Transom Audio Storytelling Workshop.
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