Manufacturing News
October 12, 2026
October 12, 2026 · Statewide · Story 3 of 4
Tariff-Driven Layoffs in Michigan and Iowa Could Become Indiana's Gain
A century-old clockmaker in Zeeland, Michigan, Howard Miller, closed its factory and laid off nearly 200 workers after tariffs raised the cost of overseas parts it depended on, and similar backlash is building in competitive House races across Michigan, Kansas, Iowa, and Ohio ahead of the Nov. 3 election. The White House points to rising factory-construction employment, though U.S. manufacturing still employs fewer people than it did in January 2025. For Indiana, the same pressure cuts the other way.
A century-old clockmaker in Zeeland, Michigan, Howard Miller, closed its factory and laid off nearly 200 workers after tariffs raised the cost of overseas parts it depended on, and similar backlash is building in competitive House races across Michigan, Kansas, Iowa, and Ohio ahead of the Nov. 3 election. The White House points to rising factory-construction employment, though U.S. manufacturing still employs fewer people than it did in January 2025.
For Indiana, the same pressure cuts the other way. Winnebago's WARN filings show 381 Iowa layoffs tied to consolidating towable RV production at Grand Design RV's Middlebury campus, meaning Indiana is picking up production that tariffs pushed out of Iowa. In Kansas, Republican Senators Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran are publicly opposing a threatened Bombardier sales ban to protect 1,500 Wichita jobs, a reminder that tariff politics are redrawing where Midwest production lands, not simply whether it survives.
For your morning huddle
- Q
As tariff-driven closures hit plants in Michigan and Iowa, are we positioned to pick up relocating production the way Grand Design RV captured Winnebago's shift to Middlebury?
Winnebago's own WARN filings confirm 381 Iowa layoffs tied to consolidating production in Middlebury, Indiana, so this relocation is already happening, and the plants ready to bid on that freed-up work now are the ones that will land it.
Briefing note
- Impact
- The same tariff-driven contraction hitting Iowa is redrawing the Midwest manufacturing map: Winnebago's WARN filings show 381 Iowa layoffs tied to a decision to consolidate towable RV production at Grand Design RV's Middlebury, Indiana campus, meaning Indiana is a direct beneficiary of production shifting out of harder-hit states even as the national tariff narrative sours politically. There's also an intra-party fracture worth watching: Kansas Republican Senators Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran have publicly opposed Trump's threatened Bombardier sales ban to protect 1,500 Wichita jobs, showing GOP incumbents defending foreign-made product access while running on a pro-tariff platform. For Indiana manufacturers, this means tariff politics are reshaping where Midwest production lands, not just whether it survives.
- Watch
- Nov. 3 midterm results in Michigan's 4th District, Kansas, Iowa, and Ohio, and the timeline for Winnebago's production consolidation into Middlebury, Indiana.
Sources
- Republicans face midterm backlash from factory workers squeezed out of jobs by Trump's tariffs · theridgefieldpress.com
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