Detroit, MI
Trump threatens 100% tariffs on Mexican-made cars by China companies
Former President Donald Trump said he would hit cars made in Mexico by Chinese companies with a 100% tariff, double the levy he has previously said he would put on automobiles made south of the U.S. border.
Trump addressed Chinese President Xi Jinping directly during a rally speech in Dayton, Ohio, on Saturday when threatening the tariffs.
“Those big monster car manufacturing plants you are building in Mexico right now and you think you are going to get that – not hire Americans and you’re going to sell the car to us, no,” Trump said. “We are going to put a 100% tariff on every car that comes across the lot.”
Trump continued by saying it would be a “bloodbath” if he didn’t win this year’s U.S. presidential election.
Earlier this month Trump threatened a 50% tariff on Chinese cars. He has also proposed tariffs of as much as 60% on all Chinese goods and 10% on goods made anywhere in the world. He said he’s not worried about retaliatory measures from China or other countries.
“You screw us and we’ll screw you,” he said. “It’s very simple, very fair.”
As president, Trump focused heavily on the idea that the U.S. was being ripped off by bad trade deals and cheating, embarking in 2018 on a trade war with China that saw round after round of escalation as the two countries enacted tariffs on each other’s products.
Trump’s most significant actions on trade included the trade war with China; broad implementation of tariffs; replacement of the North American Free Trade Agreement with the United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement; and exiting the multilateral Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement negotiated under President Barack Obama.
International trade and automotive industry experts at the time, however, said the Trump administration’s signature trade policies did little to bring back U.S. manufacturing jobs and achieve his goal of balancing the trade deficit. Indeed, the U.S. trade deficit was higher in 2020, at $678.7 billion, than it was when Trump took office — $502.3 billion. It rose further during the Biden presidency, ending 2023 at $773.4 billion.
The trade deficit with China, however, dropped from $347 billion when Trump took office to $308 billion in 2020. Though it rose again in the first years of the Biden administration, it fell to $280 billion at the end of 2023.
In Michigan, manufacturing employment stood at 617,100 when Trump took office in January 2017, according to federal data. It peaked at 634,200 in December 2018. By January 2020, manufacturing jobs declined to 628,700, then to 623,700 in February 2020.
Trump’s proposed 100% tariff levied on the price of a Chinese automakers’ vehicles assembled in Mexico escalates threats the former president made on Feb. 27 during Michigan’s presidential primary, which he handily won.
“I’m going to put tariffs so that we’re going to make the cars in this country, not China and all of these other countries,” Trump told WFDF-AM (910) Superstation host Justin Barclay on the morning of the primary.
Trump clinched the Republican Party’s presidential nomination Tuesday night, allowing him to fully turn his attention toward a rematch with President Joe Biden in November. Biden on Tuesday won enough delegates for the Democratic nomination.
In recent weeks, Biden and one of his top surrogates, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, have been clashing with Trump on manufacturing policy. Biden has highlighted the UAW’s gains following a six-week strike of General Motors, Stellantis and Ford Motor Co. last fall, while Trump has turned his attention to Chinese automakers investing in Mexican plants.
More: Biden touts deal to reopen idled Stellantis plant in State of the Union address
More: UAW president, Trump clash over future of auto industry
Trump, despite facing four criminal cases, has only tightened his grip on the GOP in his third White House run. The Republican National Committee is now helmed by three close allies, including his daughter in-law Lara Trump as co-chair. The shakeup saw more than 60 staffers fired on Monday.
Trump’s rally on Saturday took him to a once-traditional swing state where his populist message brought him easy victories in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.
This year, Ohio also hosts a Senate race that will be critical to Democratic hopes of retaining control of the chamber. Republicans face a three-way contest in the state’s March 19 primary for a candidate to take on Democrat Sherrod Brown in the general election.
Trump has endorsed tech executive Bernie Moreno for the Senate seat, putting him at odds with Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who has backed Matt Dolan, a moderate who didn’t seek Trump’s support. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is also running.
Moreno, who attended Saturday’s rally, called Trump a “great American.” Trump also took a swipe at Dolan, calling him “the next Mitt Romney” and claiming he is embracing “woke left lunatics.”
Trump demonstrated his hold on Ohio Republicans in the Senate race two years ago when he backed J.D. Vance, propelling him to a come-from-behind win in the GOP primary and a victory in the general election.
The Detroit News contributed.
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DETROIT – What started as a seemingly routine home repair quickly unraveled into something far more troubling for one Detroit family.
A man appeared to be posing as a contractor — arriving in construction gear and accompanied by two teens — showed up April 7 at a west side Detroit home, offering to do brick work for about $300. But according to the homeowner’s daughter, the situation started to seem fishy — and expensive — fast.
Tameka Kelly said the trio told her 76-year-old mother they were with “State Line Construction” and began working almost immediately.
“I just felt used and taken advantage of,” Kelly said, looking back at the situation.
“They kept working — kept putting cement down, I said, ‘you might want to tell them to stop.’ He said, ‘well right now it’s $1129.’ I said, ‘my mother‘s not paying you $1000,’” Kelly said.
At one point, the man even offered to repair the bottom of the home’s wheelchair ramp — something Kelly said her sister, who lives with her mother, relies on daily. But she refused because something just didn’t sit right.
“I gave him the $300,” Kelly said, hoping they would just leave. “I thought, well, he knows where my mom lives. I don’t want him coming back trying to do something to my mom‘s house or something to our vehicles.”
Kelly later tried to confront the man, who identified himself as Brian Lopez, and called the number on the invoice.
“When I called he was like, ‘no no no brickwork no brickwork’ I said, ‘yes you did. You were just here. I said I don’t forget a voice,’” she said.
But the biggest red flag came when she looked closer at the address listed on the invoice.
The address — 70 West Maple in Troy — turned out to be a McDonald’s.
“I really got upset when I found out that address was to a McDonald’s,” Kelly said.
Initially, Kelly said when she tried to file a report with Detroit police, she said they told her the situation was a civil matter and she could not file one. She then filed a complaint with the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.
Now, Detroit police tell Local 4 they will be taking Kelly’s fraud report, and once that is completed, an investigation will follow.
State Line initially told Local 4 they were not familiar with a Brian Lopez, then an attorney for State Line construction told Local 4 that, after checking the company’s records, there is no Brian Lopez that works for the company. As a matter of fact, the attorney said, State Line Construction does not do cement or residential construction. He said they focus on electrical work.
Attempts by Local 4 to reach the man going by the name Brian Lopez with the number given were unsuccessful.
Kelly said she felt compelled to speak up to prevent others from falling victim.
“I’m really upset about it, and I don’t want it to happen to anybody else,” she said.
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Pistons vs Magic Game 1 reaction, lessons learned and what must change
Omari Sankofa II, Shawn Windsor and special guest Bryce Simon react to Detroit Pistons’ Game 1 NBA playoff loss to Orlando Magic, April 19, 2026, at Little Caesars Arena.
How in the world did things get so bad so fast for the Detroit Pistons?
In just one outing in the 2026 NBA playoffs, they went from top-seeded darlings of the Eastern Conference to punching bags punked by an 8-seed short on rest but long on resilience and toughness.
“I would say they ‘outphysical-ed’ us today,” Pistons wing Ausar Thompson said after the Orlando Magic stole Game 1 of the first-round NBA playoff series, 112-101, at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday, April 19. “One, because they got more rebounds than us. They forced more turnovers.”
Yes, this was always going to be a physical series. Though you would think the Pistons, owners of the NBA’s second-best defense and playing at home, would have a sizable advantage.
It also should have helped them that they were coming off six days’ rest, as opposed to the Magic coming off winning a play-in game just 47 hours earlier.
It didn’t help that Pistons star Cade Cunnigham was playing in just his fourth game since suffering a collapsed lung and missing 11 games. He scored a game-high 39 points, but he didn’t operate as smoothly as usual, with just four assists (far off his 9.9-assist season average) while committing three turnovers.
Another indictment of the Pistons’ worrisome play: Tobias Harris (19 points) was Cunningham’s only teammate who scored in double digits. Meanwhile, all five Magic staters did so, led by Paolo Banchero’s 23 points on 8-for-15 shooting.
And just like that, the Magic came out firing, scoring 35 points in the first quarter and never trailing.
“Yeah, just that we came out a little too tight, lax, whatever the word is, maybe both for some of us, but just didn’t come out with the right energy,” Cunningham said. “Gave them life further on. And then, you know, we had to deal with that for the rest of the game. We were better in stints, but can’t dig a hole like that.”
He’s right. The Pistons can’t dig a hole like that in Game 2 on Wednesday night. Because if they do, and they lose, the Magic would not only have homecourt advantage – they got that with Sunday’s victory – but could close out the series without another win in Detroit, with three of the next four games coming in Orlando.
That’s precisely what makes Game 2 a must-win game for the Pistons. It’s bad enough they lost the opener at LCA, where they were 31-9. But now they’ve let the Magic set a hard-edged tone in the kind of the game that could lead them to steal the series.
“I know that they feel great about this game,” Cunningham said. “This was a big win for them. They came in, they handled their business and stole one on the road. That’s what you want to do in the playoff series.
“So I’m sure that they feel great about that. Obviously, we’re sick about losing this one. It’s a long series, though. There’s no confidence dropped from us. We know that team. They know us. So it’ll be a long, fun series.”
Cunningham might be right, because the Pistons are arguably the better team. They have enough talent and more depth.
What the Pistons don’t have is the advantage of desperation. They had an excellent season from start to finish, closed with a 60-22 record, and wrapped up the East’s top seed on April 4.
The Magic, meanwhile, have been playing with fire (and not always the good kind) down the stretch, while their fifth-year coach, Jamahl Mosley, entered the postseason on the hottest of hot seats after his squad went 0-7 in road playoff games over the past two seasons.
To make things even worse, the Magic lost the regular-season finale to the Boston Celtics – well, their reserves, at least – to blow their chance at the 7-seed and homecourt in the play-in tournament. Then Orlando lost to the Philadelphia 76ers (on the road, of course) in the first play-in game before beating the Charlotte Hornets (in Orlando) to advance to a best-of-seven series – featuring four road games – vs. the Pistons.
Now, it looks like the Magic have found their form, as they routed the Hornets, 121-90, and stunned the Pistons. And just like that, Mosley went from hot seat to just plain hot.
Banchero wouldn’t go so far as to say the victory set up his team to steal the series, but he didn’t deny it was exactly the kind of start Orlando needed.
“It’s just a good win for us as a team getting it on the road against a great team and 1-seed,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we got to come back Wednesday, you know, reciprocate it, you know?
“They’re not going to lay down. They’re going to turn it up. So we’ve got to be ready for that. And it’s just one-game-at-a-time mentality, you know? That’s what it’s got to be. It’s the first of four.”
Yes, it’s just the first of four wins the Magic needs to advance. If the Pistons don’t find an answer quickly, the math – and hardly anyone else – won’t be on their side when they head to Central Florida this weekend.
Contact Carlos Monarrez at cmonarrez@freepress.com and follow him on X @cmonarrez.
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