Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a leading Democrat from a crucial battleground state, on Wednesday quietly warned against President-elect Donald J. Trump targeting Canada, even as she emphasized her broader willingness to work with him on the eve of his second inauguration.
Her speech, at the Detroit Auto Show, offered one of the clearest examples of how Democrats from states carried by Mr. Trump are seeking to balance new proposals for the incoming president with their strong opposition to some of his policy proposals.
Speaking at a convention center just across the Detroit River from Windsor, Ont., Ms. Whitmer described strong cultural and industrial ties between the two cities.
Using tariffs as punishment, he said, risks “damaging supply chains, slowing production lines and cutting jobs on both sides of the border.”
Ms. Whitmer did not name Mr. Trump as he raised the issue, but he has threatened to impose tariffs on imports from Canada if the country does not reduce the flow of immigrants and fentanyl into the United States. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has discussed retaliation, including threatening to cut off the province’s electricity supply to the United States.
“I’m not against tariffs outright, but we can’t treat them as a one-size-fits-all solution and we certainly shouldn’t use them to punish our closest trading partners,” Ms. Whitmer, arguing that such an approach could embolden China.
“They would love nothing more than us to see us single-handedly cripple America’s auto ecosystem,” he said. “This is a matter of national security.”
Ms. Whitmer also noted that auto parts often cross the US-Canada border more than once in the production process. Tariffs imposed each time, he suggested, could mean “you’ll pay more to buy a Silverado, fix your Mustang’s engine or replace the fender on your Jeep Grand Cherokee.”
The comments were part of a wide-ranging speech about her economic vision and responding to challenges and competition facing Michigan’s auto industry, both internationally and from other states. The broader industry accounts for 20 percent of Michigan’s workforce and contributes $304 billion to the state’s economy annually, according to the Detroit Regional Chamber.
“We have to stay nimble to support the businesses that are already here and win new ones,” he said. “We can’t just disarm unilaterally, as some on the far left and far right would like us to do.” He told Republicans that to truly fix the state’s roads, new revenue would be necessary, while telling Democrats that “fiscally responsible cuts” were also needed.
Throughout, Ms. Whitmer peppered her remarks with promises to work on a bipartisan basis both locally and nationally, an approach that has taken on new urgency since Democrats lost control of the Michigan House of Representatives in November.
He also extended these gestures expressly to Mr. Trump, who opened Michigan in November, four years after President Biden won the state.
Noting that Michiganders had twice endorsed both her and Mr. Trump, Mrs. Whitmer said, “they expect us to find common ground.”
The comments of Ms. Whitmer contrasted with more militant positions taken by elected officials from some deeply Democratic states.
“I don’t want to pretend that we will always agree, but I will always seek cooperation first,” said Ms. Whitmer, who has clashed for years with Mr. Trump. “I won’t look for fights. Nor will I back down from them.”
In an interview on Tuesday, Ms. Whitmer said she wanted to “redouble my efforts to connect with him after the inauguration.”
“President Trump cares about Michigan, he spent a lot of time here in Michigan, and Michigan helped get him to the White House,” he said of a man who has often been described as prone to flattery. “I want to make sure that we don’t take our eye off the ball and that we’re really focused on using tariffs as a scalpel and not a sledgehammer.”
During her speech, Ms. Whitmer tread carefully on a hot button issue in the state: the transition to electric vehicles. He said the definition of the auto industry was expanded to include not only parts makers and assembly plants, but also “battery factories, software companies, chipmakers and startups.”
“We don’t care what you drive,” he said to applause. “We just care that it’s made here in Michigan, by Michigan workers.”
