ROGERS ON THE REVIVAL OF MICHIGAN MANUFACTURING

“We don't have to tell our kids here in Michigan, they have to leave to find good work. We can do it here.”

In case you missed it… Mike Rogers joined Automotive Daily News to discuss the revival of American manufacturing, taking on China, and restoring opportunity for Michigan families.

Listen here and read below:

Getting back to Made in America – “You know, the most important thing about tariffs is getting back to Made in America. And so what we've seen is General Motors announces after that, $4 billion in investment, expanding the Orion facility right here in Michigan. Ford is coming back. Whirlpool announced it's coming back to the United States. We have other foreign companies realigning their production facilities back here to the United States. 

And so why is that important? We've lost 30,000 manufacturing jobs since 2019. And so when you look at that, that tells you we have a problem. And China has been eating our lunch on supply chains, on critical minerals.

And so all of this helps realign to make sure that Michigan working families and American working families are manufacturing again, which is really the backbone of the middle class. And I say that as someone who has worked on a factory floor making convertibles, making Sebring convertibles. My brother was a UAW member [...] Every time we lose one of those 30,000 manufacturing jobs, guess what?

That's a middle class family that's going to be struggling to stay in the middle class. And there are five other jobs associated with those 30,000 that pack up and leave with them. And so, that's where I think that we've made tremendous progress, and we have to do it now.”

...

Taking on China – “We have got to realign our supply chains back to the United States. And so when, you know, graphite is a great example to me. China controls 90% of graphite production. Now, it's either getting it out of the ground or processing. You can't get graphite without really going through China. And so when you give Americans, taxpayers, hardworking folks, taxpayer money on a program that rewards buying and purchasing from China, to me, that is absolutely the wrong answer.”

…

Protecting Choice, not Mandates – “What we ought to be doing is making sure that we can compete in EVs by making that market work for the consumer. And it just doesn't today. And so I think that the company should build EVs because I think there's a market for them. I happen to drive two in our family, plug-in hybrids. And, you know, they have both pros and cons, honestly.

Love it when we're just bopping around short tours around town. But when we got to drive to the UP., guess what? We need gasoline. And so that's a consumer choice that I made. I think every consumer should be able to make that choice.

And the government EV mandates, which the Biden administration has just rammed down our throats. It screwed up our company's ability to plan in a five-year or even shorter business cycle and what cars to build. That was a mess.”

….

Winning for Michigan Manufacturers – “I talked to a guy the other day. He announced that he's going to put on a second shift for the first time in 25 years [...] Now, this isn't a big union shop. It's a smaller shop that is getting more domestic auto companies looking for ways to build it in America. That's a win.”

…

Restoring Opportunity for Working Families – “We don't have to tell our kids here in Michigan, they have to leave to find good work. We can do it here.”

Learn more about Mike Rogers and his plan to Get Michigan Working Again at RogersForSenate.com.