Trump promises to bring the auto industry back to Michigan. But it’s never gone. • Michigan Advance

Goodbye, Motor City. Hello, Auto Country? Yay!

Former President Donald Trump proposed Michigan’s new nickname during a recent panel discussion at a black church in Detroit that was packed with White peopleYou may have heard that Trump is seeking the White House again.

“We will bring the auto industry back to Michigan,” Trump said to enthusiastic applause. “We are bringing back Auto Country. It will be called Auto Country again.”

Again? I’ve lived in Michigan my whole life and have never heard the state called by that nickname.

Trump said he would work with “our senator” to bring industry back to Michigan. He probably did not mean Democratic Senator Gary Peters, who is considered one of the the most effective legislators in Congress.

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Trump was undoubtedly talking about Republican Mike Rogers, a former senator and congressman from Michigan, who long-time resident of Florida before deciding to run this year for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retirement of Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow. Trump has endorsed Rogers for the seat.

I have questions.

Trump says he’s going to bring the auto industry back to Michigan, but where is he going to bring it back from? From the South, where Asian and European automakers have located virtually all of their U.S. assembly plants? I doubt people there would take particularly well to that idea.

Perhaps Mexicowhere Detroit automakers and other assembly and component plants operate? This is because of a free trade agreement that Trump updated During his presidency, new vehicles from the United States, Mexico and Canada could be sold duty-free throughout North America.

And what about China? During his years in the White House falsely claimed General Motors had moved assembly plants to China and was now supposed to bring them back. GM’s investments there were made to serve the Chinese market. Only one GM car made in China, the Buick Envision, is exported to the USA.

The obvious fact is that the auto industry has never left Michigan. It certainly has its challenges, but it is still the state’s most important industry and is highly profitable.

Michigan Auto workers build About 19% of all cars and trucks manufactured in the United States, more than any other state. 26 car manufacturers have technology centers and other facilities in Michigan. 98 of the 100 largest North American suppliers are located here. 65 of these suppliers are headquartered in Michigan.

And more than 1.1 million jobs in Michigan are directly or indirectly related to the automotive industry, according to MichAuto.

I get it. Most candidates running for national office come to Michigan claiming they will increase profits for the auto industry and manufacturing in general. Trump simply takes the exaggeration to 100 on a scale of one to ten.

In Trump’s world, everything about American life is terrible and he is the only one who can save us. Trump says he will protect Michigan’s auto industry from Chinese competitors by draining President Joe Biden’s policies support the inevitable transition to electric cars and trucks.

Biden and Trump have each proposed imposing 100 percent tariffs on Chinese vehicles.

Trump’s record in reviving US industry during his four years in office is not exactly impressive.

He wanted to save the coal industry, which was experiencing rapid job losses due to the emergence of cheaper and cleaner energy sources such as natural gas, wind and solar power.

But more than 12,000 jobs in coal mining disappeared during Trump’s term in office. And as the New York Times recently reportedTrump rarely mentions the coal industry during the election campaign.

Not that he needs to. As the Times noted, Trump likely has control of most of the major coal-producing states, including Wyoming, West Virginia and Kentucky.

Trump also tried to save General Motors’ long-troubled assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, which was scheduled to close in 2018. He urged GM CEO Mary Barra to sell the plant to a newly formed electric pickup truck maker, which she did.

This company, Lordstown Motors, Bankruptcy filed last year. The factory in Ohio is now owned by Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn, which plans to build electric vehicles there.