Michigan Clockmaker Howard Miller Closed Its Factory, and a Laid-Off Designer Blames Tariffs as He Plans to Vote Democrat

Since Trump rolled out his broadest tariffs on "Liberation Day" last year, the promised factory comeback has run into cases like Howard Miller, a century-old clockmaker in Zeeland, Michigan, that shut its factory and let go nearly 200 workers.

The company sold off its inventory and its brand name. One of the people who lost his job is Nelson Vandermeer, 62, a product designer.

Vandermeer voted Republican for decades. He balked at backing Trump because he feared the tariff plan would hurt workers more than help them.

"So much for bringing jobs back," Vandermeer said. "I could still have a job, but now I don't because of tariffs. It was like taking a knife to the back." Next month he plans to vote straight Democrat.

What happened at Howard Miller

The company's troubles did not start with tariffs. Americans had lost their taste for fancy timepieces like its signature grandfather and mantel clocks, and Howard Miller struggled for years.

It responded by broadening into bar carts, cabinets and consoles. Those products also relied on glass and other parts made abroad. Diversifying did not save the company.

The company's own explanation for the closure is not laid out here. Vandermeer's account ties the loss of his job to tariffs. The long decline in clock demand is also part of the record.

The jobs promise versus the numbers

Trump pitched higher taxes on imports as a way to spur a U.S. factory renaissance. That has not come to pass.

The country has added manufacturing jobs so far this year. Even so, the sector has fewer employees than when Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

The White House rejects the premise. Spokeswoman Taylor Rogers insisted a factory boom is underway, pointing to higher manufacturing output and more work in certain nonresidential construction trades.

"Factory construction jobs of today mean more manufacturing jobs down the road once those factories come online," Rogers said.

That is a forecast, not a count of jobs that exist today.

A Republican seeking a ninth term on the ballot

Vandermeer lives in Michigan's 4th Congressional District, represented by Republican Bill Huizenga. Huizenga is running for a ninth term in the Nov. 3 election.

Before the Liberation Day tariffs took effect, Huizenga backed them. "Is it going to be easy? Not necessarily. Is it the right thing to do? Absolutely it is," he told reporters at the time.

His position now is more hedged. A spokesperson said last week that Huizenga "sees a potential role for tariffs" in boosting domestic manufacturing "while recognizing the need to address their broader economic effects."

His Democratic opponent, state Sen. Sean McCann, has criticized Huizenga for opposing legislation that would rein in tariffs Trump imposed unilaterally.

Not just Michigan

Similar dynamics are playing out in competitive races in Kansas, Iowa and Ohio. Republican acquiescence on tariffs could hurt the party there, as constituents face factory layoffs, farm foreclosures and higher prices.

Republicans are also carrying an unpopular war with Iran and persistent inflation into the election, which compounds the tariff problem.

Tariffs are a tax paid at the border, and the people who pay them are importers and their customers. Howard Miller imported glass and parts. That is how a trade policy becomes a payroll decision in a small Michigan town.

Whether it becomes a vote is the open question. One laid-off designer switching parties is one person. The Nov. 3 result in Michigan's 4th District, and in the Kansas, Iowa and Ohio contests, will show whether Vandermeer's experience is a pattern.