Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, recently criticized Donald Trump’s trade policies, arguing that the administration’s tariffs impose a heavy financial burden on state residents.
On social media platform X, El-Sayed shared an image featuring both Trump and his Republican rival, Mike Rogers, alongside the claim that “Trump’s tariffs cost each Michigan household $5,619.” The accompanying post pointed out that Rogers had previously defended the trade measures as “necessary” after a 50% tariff was levied on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods.
Mike Rogers called it “necessary.” pic.twitter.com/sRoOhIKOS8
— Dr. Abdul El-Sayed (@AbdulElSayed) September 1, 2026
However, the $5,619 figure does not represent the actual out-of-pocket cost borne by individual households. While El-Sayed’s office did not respond to requests for comment, the data originates from a National Taxpayers Union Foundation analysis tracking state-level tariff burdens. The report calculated that total imports coming into Michigan incurred roughly $23 billion in tariffs since Trump took office in January 2025, and simply divided that total by the number of households in the state.
Experts clarify that this calculation is misleading. Bryan Riley, director of the National Taxpayers Union’s Free Trade Initiative, explained that a significant portion of those expenses are paid by commercial importers, such as manufacturers bringing in auto parts or machinery, rather than families buying everyday goods.
Furthermore, because Michigan serves as a major logistics hub, especially for the automotive industry, goods arriving in the state are rarely consumed solely within its borders. Jason Miller, a supply chain management professor at Michigan State University, noted that Census data shows billions of dollars in vehicles from Canada and Mexico enter through Michigan as a primary destination before being distributed nationwide.
“We clearly don’t have all the cars from Mexico being consumed in Michigan versus Ohio,” Miller pointed out, adding that businesses also absorb a portion of tariff expenses through reduced profit margins instead of passing the entire amount onto consumers.
On a national scale, analysts estimate that the tariff impact translates to roughly $851 per person, or about $1,000 per household. These figures do not fully account for subsequent legal shifts, such as $166 billion in refunds issued after the Supreme Court invalidated parts of the initial tariff schedule.
While states heavily reliant on global trade face distinct pressures—a Federal Reserve Bank of New York study found that imported goods account for about 4.1% of Michigan consumer spending, placing it 22nd among analyzed states—attributing the total state import tax bill directly to household budgets oversimplifies complex supply chains.
Our Ruling
El-Sayed claimed that Trump’s tariffs “cost each Michigan household $5,619.”
While trade barriers certainly drive up costs—adding an estimated $1,000 per household nationwide before recent legal challenges—the statistic cited by the candidate reflects total tariffs paid by commercial importers in Michigan. Due to the state’s prominent role in automotive manufacturing and nationwide distribution networks, those expenses are distributed far beyond local residents.
Because the statement relies on a metric that misrepresents household costs by ignoring critical supply chain realities, it has been rated Mostly False.