Mike Musheinesh gets about 75 percent of the auto parts his company sells from China. But even with plenty to lose in a trade war, Mr. Musheinesh gave President Trump the benefit of the doubt when he started increasing tariffs on the company’s most important trading partner.
The president “needs to shake it up, and I’m actually paying for the shake-up,” Mr. Musheinesh said in mid-April. “But at the end,” he added, “I think it’s going to be much better off.”
These days, he is less certain. The U.S.-China trade deal he thought would have materialized by now remains elusive. To blunt the effects of the tariffs, Mr. Musheinesh has started selling directly to consumers in Mexico and has entered into a deal with a factory in Turkey. But only so much can be done.
“Actually, I am panicking now,” Mr. Musheinesh said last week after paying a 145 percent tariff on a container of new products that had arrived in Detroit from China. He said “being able to pay for this negotiation is about to run out on my end.” He added, “It’s gone long enough.”
Mr. Musheinesh, the chief executive of Detroit Axle, sells replacement brake rotors, steering gears and countless other car parts to mechanics and do-it-yourselfers across the United States.
Shortly after the tariffs were announced, he said it looked like Mr. Trump was using some of the same negotiating tactics with China that Detroit Axle might use to get a better deal with a vendor. Mr. Musheinesh described the strategy a few weeks ago as a “lot of pump fake,” a way to get the other side’s attention and force a compromise.
