A Michigan Democrat wants to put Canada on the ballot during the midterms. Are voters listening?

A Michigan Democrat wants to put Canada on the ballot during the midterms. Are voters listening?

State's open Senate seat is shaping up to be a tight race in the shadow of a trade war

It's just past noon at Richfield Bowl on the outskirts of Flint, Mich., and already the sounds of rolling bowling balls and crashing pins fill the large hall.

Here, strikes and spares are serious. So are splits. And not just when two pins are left standing.

"President [Donald] Trump's trying to keep American people working instead of sending it overseas," said Scott Holmes, moments before his turn to bowl.

"My son just lost his job a few months ago because they sent it over to Africa."

His teammate Dick Hunt sees the U.S. president's tariffs another way.

"The people, we end up paying for it," he said.

How the Canada-U.S. trade war is playing out in Michigan

CBC News recently travelled to Michigan to get a temperature check on how Americans are feeling about the tariff war with Canada — the state's largest export market.

MAGA supporter Tina Bentley says she trusts the president's handling of the economy.

"I think he's a smart man. And I think that he cares 100 per cent about America," she said.

"The way I look at it is God didn't use perfect people to do his work. He used people like Trump to do his work."

A few lanes down, longtime bowler Peggy Banks can't disagree more.

"Our tariffs have not done anything for the people except make everything more expensive," she said.

Bowling league-mate Lisa McFadden nodded along.

"I think now everybody is starting to see it regardless of if you're a Democrat or a Republican because now it's affecting everybody's pocket," she said.

Michigan, heart of the auto industry, is one of the states hardest hit by the trade dispute. Just this month the U.S. National Taxpayers Union Foundation published a study suggesting Michigan households face the highest per-household tariff costs in the country.

Whitmer told Trump in private that Michigan auto jobs depend on a tariff change of course

Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario and Michigan share a border — and now a very big tariff threat

That puts the already hotly contested race for U.S. Senate this November in the shadow of an escalating trade war.

Winning Michigan's open seat is crucial for the Democratic Party if they want to regain control of the Senate during the second half of Trump's term. The Republicans are hoping to flip the seat red. So far, polls suggest the two candidates are neck and neck.

Abdul El-Sayed, considered a progressive-left choice for this party, is hoping to capitalize on Michiganders' frustrations with the trade war. He's been pushing Canada into the conversation while campaigning, repeatedly calling Trump an "asshole" for starting a trade war with the country's northern neighbour.

"People don't want to have to keep paying more for stuff that they need to buy. And this is the logical outcome of an illogical trade war. So here we are," El-Sayed told CBC News during a campaign stop in Waterford, Mich., on Thursday.

Abdul El-Sayed says Michigan voters not happy with Trump's 'vanity trade war'

The Democrat — who was quick to raise his childhood memories of watching Hockey Night in Canada and his love of lacrosse, Canada's actual national sport — isn't ruling out all tariffs.

He cited duties on windmill parts or solar rigs as an example of tariffs he would keep if it would help build up his state's renewable energy industry.

"But it's because you're being very particular about exactly what kind of industries you're trying to protect. This is just across the board, ridiculousness, for no particular reason," El-Sayed said.

"So I can't quite explain it. Except for that everything Donald Trump does is ham-fisted, chaotic and self-serving."

His Republican rival has largely stayed away from talking about Trump's tariffs on the campaign.

Mike Rogers's camp didn't respond to CBC's request for an interview, but was recently asked by Fox News if he supports Trump's handing of the trade deal with Canada and backed the president's objectives.

"The Canadians have not been good partners on this," Rogers said in an interview on Fox & Friends on Monday. "I think they think that the Republicans are going to lose in the midterms, and then that the Democrats are going to open up the borders again and absolutely undercut the people who build cars and car parts right here in Michigan."

Voters mixed on if tariffs play into their vote

Residents in Genesee County were mixed on whether the tariffs will impact their votes.

Carl Olson, teammates with Holmes and Hunt, offered a quick "no."

"I think eventually everything will level out and everything will go back to normal," he said.

"If anything, it made it stronger that I will never vote Republican," said Joan Castor, when stopped in the Flint downtown core.

Down the street, Matt Zastrow said work and housing are his main concerns. If he votes, it will be for the Republican candidate.

"I think Trump's doing a good enough job right now. I'm not sure where we would be if we had somebody else in there," he said.

So far, industry in the region is largely staying out of politics. Businesses CBC contacted didn't want to speak on the record, citing the atmosphere.

Glenn Stevens Jr., executive director of MichAuto at the Detroit Regional Chamber, said businesses he speaks to want to see the cloud of uncertainty this trade war has brought cleared.

"Politics is not what this is about," Stevens Jr. said. "This is about making cars, in our perspective, moving lumber, moving energy, moving agriculture to the market and employing people.

"So the politics and the rhetoric are one thing, and that's at a crescendo right now, but the economics really are what speaks."

Catharine Tunney is a reporter with CBC's Parliament Hill bureau, where she covers national security and the RCMP. She worked previously for CBC in Nova Scotia. You can reach her at catharine.tunney@cbc.ca