San Jose State University beats Stanford, Cal in computer coding
The school leapt to the No. 9 spot this year in rankings by CodeSignal, a San Francisco company whose General Coding Assessment is widely used by major technology companies to evaluate potential hires.
That position put San Jose State in front of Berkeley at No. 19 and Stanford at No. 25, a giant leap from last year, when the school was ranked 32nd, and from 2023, when it ranked 48th.
"This is great news," said San Jose State engineering school dean Sheryl Ehrman, who attributed the result to eager students, talented tenure-track faculty, and part-time instructors with tech industry experience who are "really trying to impart those real-world skills."
Whether the university could continue its trajectory to the top of the rankings would require a dramatic upset. This year and last year, Carnegie Mellon took No. 1 and Massachusetts Institute of Technology came in No. 2, while in 2023, MIT came out on top, followed by New York's Stony Brook University, with Carnegie Mellon at No. 3.
The downtown San Jose school is an "under-told story" behind Silicon Valley's success, said South Bay Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna.
"It's always been such a key component of churning out engineers, churning out people in technology," Khanna said this week. "A lot of headlines go to Stanford and Berkeley. San Jose State and Santa Clara (University) are really important contributors, and San Jose, of course, being a public school, is more accessible for folks that can't afford Stanford or Santa Clara."
CodeSignal CEO Tigran Sloyan said the general coding assessment is taken by the vast majority of U.S. computer science students, and is intended to provide a "data-driven view" of people's coding ability. Students generally take it annually starting in their junior year, and can share their results with prospective employers, he said.
The 70-minute test includes four questions to measure different coding skills.
Launched six years ago, CodeSignal's assessment has become very popular among tech and financial companies, Sloyan said.
The test, Sloyan contended, gives prospective employers a much better idea of a software engineering or software development candidate's qualifications than a resume, which may attract an employer's attention for the presence of a particularly prestigious school without any guarantee the student or graduate developed the commensurate skills. Every school has brilliant, average and mediocre students, Sloyan said.
"Most companies want to go beyond resumes and find great people regardless of which schools they came from," Sloyan said.
Sloyan believes San Jose State's rapid climb toward the top of the university pack in CodeSignal's rankings reflects the effectiveness of the school's faculty and programs. "Clearly San Jose State is doing something right when it comes to tech education," Sloyan said.
"So far, the observation is that what they might be doing different from other schools is having a more hands-on approach to education."
UC Berkeley and Stanford declined to comment on the rankings.
Harshil Vyas, soon to graduate from San Jose State with a master's in software engineering, pointed to the school's tech-veteran instructors as a key benefit, along with large numbers of fellow students like him who have worked in tech and share their varied experiences with each other. The school's location in Silicon Valley is another boon, said Vyas, 25.
"It's somewhat a motivation when you see the tech industry around you," Vyas said. "It helps you push to the goal."
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Politico
11 minutes ago
- Politico
Gubernatorial candidates spar over PJM
Presented by Good morning and welcome to the weekly Monday edition of the New York & New Jersey Energy newsletter. We'll take a look at the week ahead and look back on what you may have missed last week. A HAMSTRUNG BPU — POLITICO's Ry Rivard: The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is scheduled to hold its first meeting Wednesday since the abrupt departure of Republican member Marian Abdou, who said last month she was leaving to tend to her family. Now, the three-member board — which is designed to have five members — will have two Democrats and one Republican. And, to do anything, all of its votes must be unanimous. The board is operating under these conditions: Three affirmative votes, constituting a majority of the authorized membership of the board, is required for the board to act on any matter that comes before it. A quorum of two of the three is required to meet, but just two members can't act. The board's composition isn't exactly conducive to moving a progressive energy agenda. Though Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy did nominate every member of the current board, one of them is a Republican and one of the two Democrats is Zenon Christodoulou, who in April balked at approving solar energy subsidies and criticized the way the BPU operates. IN THE SPOTLIGHT — New Jersey gubernatorial candidates Jack Ciattarelli and Mikie Sherrill are sparring on social media over, of all things, regional grid operator PJM. 'Your energy prices aren't going up because of some regional nonprofit organization you've likely never heard of,' Ciattarelli said. 'It's a bunch of BS.' The Republican pinned blame on the Murphy administration for being 'obsessed' with offshore wind, an industry that was supposed to be a major source of in-state power but was obviously not ready for prime time. Democrats, including Sherrill, have tried to villainize PJM because the auction it holds to secure power supplies has increased utility bills across New Jersey by some $25 per month. Ciattarelli's video prompted a reply from Sherrill who pointed out that Republican governors from Tennessee and Virginia have also called out PJM for threatening affordability across the 13-state region, which includes some of the reddest states in the country, like West Virginia. She blamed Republicans for nixing policies that would have helped develop clean energy and said bringing down energy prices would be a top priority. 'But you can't do that if you're completely unwilling to stand up to the people raising New Jerseyans' energy costs,' she posted on X. — Ry Rivard PJM, PART 2 — Governors have agreed on two names to fill vacancies on the board of PJM. An energy official familiar with the agreement told POLITICO that they have settled on a pair of former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission members: Allison Clements and Mark Christie. Clements, a lawyer based in D.C., served on the FERC board during the Biden administration, and Christie was named in January by President Donald Trump to be commission chair. If approved by PJM, Clements and Christie would fill the nine-member voting board while also giving states more representation as they push for reforms amid rising energy costs for customers. 'We think these two candidates are going to meet the moment,' the energy official said. Last month, a bipartisan group of nine state governors sent a letter to PJM calling for fundamental changes and to appoint new leadership. — Dustin Racioppi HAPPY MONDAY MORNING: Let us know if you have tips, story ideas or life advice. We're always here at mfrench@ and rrivard@ And if you like this letter, please tell a friend and/or loved one to sign up. Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories. Here's what we're watching this week: WEDNESDAY — The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is scheduled to meet. THURSDAY — The New York Public Service Commission meets, 10:30 a.m. Upstate National Grid and Central Hudson rate cases are on the preliminary agenda. SATURDAY — The deadline for public comments on New York state permits for the Northeast Supply Enhancement project, a Trump-backed pipeline to bring more gas into New York City. Around New York — Rise in Legionnaires' disease likely driven by environmental, human factors, the Gothamist finds. — Astoria business group seeks to block bike lane. — Solar leasing company advises Long Island residents to opt out of LIPA's new rate. — Local economic development agency backs NYPA, Alcoa deal. — Con Ed pilots small home battery program to reduce strain on grid and keep ACs humming. — New York has more wildlife rehabilitators, but demand hasn't let up. Around New Jersey — Billions in taxpayer funds have been spent trying to stabilize Jersey Shore beaches. What you may have missed SOLAR TERMINATED — POLITICO's Alex Guillén: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on Thursday announced he will terminate the agency's $7 billion Solar for All program, calling it a 'green slush fund' that has been repealed by Congress. — New York expected to receive nearly $250 million from the Solar for All federal program — the largest for a single state. Some of the money was earmarked for New York City to support a program for 5,000 households to get solar, along with solar for affordable housing. The anticipated federal money was one justification cited by the Public Service Commission in April when it reduced the ratepayer-funded budget for solar subsidies by about $150 million. The state is on track to hit a 10 gigawatt distributed solar target before 2030. New Jersey was also awarded $156 million, which officials said would support 175 megawatts of solar for 22,000 households. WIND WOES — POLITICO's Kelsey Tamborrino: The Trump administration is escalating its onslaught of actions against U.S. offshore wind development — this time launching a full-scale review of its regulations to see if they mesh with President Donald Trump's priorities and existing law. CLIMATE SCIENTIST FOR CONGRESS — POLITICO's Matt Friedman: A climate scientist who until recently worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced her candidacy for Congress in the 7th District on Thursday, joining an extremely crowded field of Democrats hoping to take on Republican Rep. Tom Kean next year. SOIL SCRAMBLE — Commercial real estate developers in New Jersey are scrambling to comply with new soil remediation and redevelopment standards the Department of Environmental Protection released. The new standards, meant to align with previously published groundwater quality standards, took effect immediately, with some exceptions. They are meant to protect water supplies by requiring soil to have fewer chemicals that leach into water. The chemicals include benzene, cyanide and vinyl chloride. Emily Lamond, a lawyer at Cole Schotz who represents brownfield developers, said DEP was making 'drastic, substantive' changes to the soil standard that skirted the administrative procedures process, will drive up costs and could disrupt active deals. Without redevelopment, sites could otherwise remain vacant and contaminated. 'DEP is pulling the rug out from underneath developers and frustrating the well-established process in the commercial real estate industry that gets money to clean up contaminated properties that would otherwise be abandoned,' Lamond said. DEP pointed to the language in its notice that said the soil standards are incorporated by reference in the ground water rule. 'Accordingly, the Remediation Standards announced in the listserv were not subject to the formal [Administrative Procedures Act] process in accordance with the Remediation Standards,' the department said. — Ry Rivard CAP AND INVEST COST CONCERNS: Gov. Kathy Hochul acknowledged the reason she delayed a cap-and-trade program she once championed was about cost. 'Cap and invest has been a tool. But I also cannot ignore the fact that the disruptions in our economy that have occurred since the laws went into place, but also even since we even supported this, that need to be examined in terms of what has happened to people's pocketbooks,' Hochul told reporters on Wednesday. 'I believe that is the right way to go, but I also have to moderate and make sure that I'm not doing something that's going to drive up cost for consumers right now, and the data shows at this time it would.' In January, she said she wanted to 'get it right' and the state needed additional information from polluters — without bringing up affordability at all. Environmental groups are suing over the delay as New York is not on track to meet its climate goals. Although state officials finished drafting the entire package of rules before Hochul punted, her administration has yet to give any updated timeline for full implementation or even when anything will be released except the reporting regulations. The state hasn't released any public modeling of the potential costs of a cap-and-invest program since January 2024, which showed cost increases for those with fossil fuel heating and gas cars. Studies backed by environmental groups indicated higher carbon prices would reap more benefits for low-income households. New York's draft energy plan indicates Hochul's officials don't expect to meet the state's emissions reduction requirements on schedule, instead outlining what they've described as a more achievable approach. The elimination of federal support for electric vehicles, heat pumps and renewables is expected to make achieving progress on New York's emissions reduction goals more challenging and costly. — Marie J. French — More from Dan Clark in his Capitol Confidential newsletter. NUCLEAR SUBSIDIES STRETCH ON — POLITICO's Marie J. French: Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration wants to keep New York's aging upstate nuclear plants online for decades to come. The Department of Public Service proposed extending the current subsidy program for Constellation's four nuclear reactors from the current end date of 2029 through 2049. The payments would come from ratepayers and could cost more than $30 billion, according to one estimate from a group opposed to the program. The state estimates it would cost about half that amount. 'We really need to ask ourselves, as a state, whether this is a good use of our money and if the opportunity costs are worth it,' said Jessica Azulay, executive director of the Alliance for a Green Economy. Why it matters: Supporters of keeping the nuclear plants online say it's a good deal for emissions-free power to meet growing energy demand. 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The two sides' public statements partly align: They both talked about the $875 million to resolve PFAS claims across the state. They also both described a $475 million fund the DuPont companies created (a 'backstop,' in the state's parlance; a 'reserve fund' in the companies' telling) to be extra sure there is money around to clean up four current and former DuPont sites in the state. But the biggest ticket item in the state's telling is the creation of the main fund to clean up those four sites, 'a remediation funding source of up to $1.2 billion.' In a press release by DuPont, no such figure was given. DuPont companies instead talked about the settlement's establishment of 'a process for determining the amount of the Remediation Funding Source ('RFS') at the four current and former operating sites and the initial range for each, as well as other mechanisms to secure future remediation at the sites.' The money and the process where the statements didn't align relates to the companies' commitment to fund cleanup at four specific current or former DuPont sites. Two of them — Chambers Works in Salem County and Parlin in Middlesex County — are PFAS-related sites. Two are not: Pompton Lakes in Passaic County and a site in Gloucester County known as Repauno. In the 108-page proposed settlement, the two sides create an elaborate process to determine how much those sites will cost to clean up and provide assurances to the state that the companies are good for the money. The initial high end of that range is about $1.2 billion, while the low end is about $232 million. To the state, the point is to make clear there's enough money around for the cleanup. Part of the reason for that caution is the very existence of Chemours, a company that the state and others allege was created by DuPont in an attempt to avoid liabilities. Like all settlements, there's something for everyone in these figures and in the telling. For the state, an eye-popping upper end recovery is a trophy for the state after years of litigation by Gov. Phil Murphy's administration, particularly Attorney General Matthew Platkin and Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette. The biggest slice of the $875 million is $525 million that can be spent across the state to support water quality infrastructure. Of the rest, $225 million will be spent in the region around the four industrial sites and $125 million is for things like attorneys' fees and for punitive damages and penalties. The value the state officials could announce is big — bigger than any other environmental deal of its kind. (Of course, there is a caveat: Louisiana received more than $8 billion after the Deepwater Horizon explosion. But that was the result of various legal settlements and fines, including litigation involving the federal government and other states. New Jersey's deal with the DuPont companies comes from multiple lawsuits and administrative actions and resolves even future claims, but all of them state's own.) For the companies, there is now certainty about their liability in New Jersey, which has been suing DuPont and its related companies for years over pollution in the state. In a Tuesday earnings call, executives from DuPont de Nemours told investors and analysts that their share of the $875 million isn't material to the company since it can be paid over the next quarter century. The executives also focused on the amount of the settlement specifically related to PFAS-laden firefighting foam — $4.125 million. The company still faces a volume of litigation from the foam, which was used at airports and other non-DuPont sites across the country. Being able to talk about the foam-related costs as being only a few percent of the overall settlement with New Jersey was a win for the company. — Ry Rivard RA, PJM, PSEG — PSEG CEO Ralph LaRossa said the company is advocating for 'some decisions to be made by the state' about how the state supplies itself with power. He wants to drive that decision by talking with the Murphy administration and 'having conversations with the potential gubernatorial candidates.' 'Within the confines of PJM, it's hard to see the path to new generation through existing market signals, which may require the consideration of a new approach to procuring capacity and resource planning,' LaRossa said during a Tuesday earnings call. Elsewhere in the state, the Board of Public Utilities was holding a day-long resource adequacy technical conference on some of those same issues, including one where PSEG senior vice president Joseph Accardo Jr. was making some of the LaRossa's same points. The company wants to know the forecast, reliability, affordability and environmental targets the state wants. During the earnings call, LaRossa flagged the bill that would allow regulated utilities to compete for in-state generation projects. But the idea of giving regulated utilities back the same authority they once had to build power plants got a chilly reception from some of the panelists at the BPU event. Glen Thomas, the head of the PJM Power Providers Group, which advocates for competitive power players, called vertically integrated utilities clunky, inefficient and costly. Former BPU general counsel Abraham Silverman, now a researcher at Johns Hopkins University, talked up the advantages of competitive bidding for generation projects and warned of rushing into 'self-build' projects. LaRossa also publicly repeated that the company expects rates to be 'near flat' following the PJM capacity auction last month. That's because while the price for having power plants on standby jumped, the power to produce the power has fallen. — Ry Rivard
Politico
29 minutes ago
- Politico
100 percent back
Presented by Good morning and welcome to the weekly Monday edition of the New York & New Jersey Energy newsletter. We'll take a look at the week ahead and look back on what you may have missed last week. 100 PERCENT BACK — POLITICO's Ry Rivard: Gov. Phil Murphy is making an end-of-term push to turn his 100 percent clean energy pledge into law before he leaves office early next year, and a leading environmental ally has a new plan to help sell it. It's been two years since Sen. Bob Smith, the Middlesex County Democrat who leads the Senate's environment and energy committee, began circulating such a bill that, at least on paper, would allow the state to claim it gets all of its power from zero-carbon sources by 2035. A new version has been floating around in recent weeks and the term-limited Democratic governor is pushing to get over the finish line in the year-end lame duck legislative session. 'We feel this is the right moment in history for this legislation,' Murphy's top climate adviser, Eric Miller, said in an interview. The contours of the law remain similar to previous drafts, but new language is designed to make the law more flexible, increase in-state generation and ensure that by 2045 generation is 'clean firm,' a term that didn't appear in the last posted version of the bill and means power that is both emission-free and available on demand. That could help assuage unions that worried past versions would lead to out-of-state clean energy construction and it could help supporters pitch the law as a response to power prices that are climbing because of a regional supply-demand crunch. As part of a push to get it over the finish line, the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters has done polling that suggests it can sell a 100 percent plan, with a top line number showing about 60 percent of the electorate agrees that the state should transition to air pollution-free energy sources. The group's polling, done by Global Strategy Group in late May and early June, looked at 600 likely voters statewide and 800 likely voters in battleground legislative districts and will help inform environmentalists in coming months. 'What this poll shows is what we know in our gut, that there is overwhelming, broad support for clean energy by 2035,' said Ed Potosnak, the head of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters. GRID WARNING SIGNS: The late June heatwave that enveloped a swath of the country strained New York's grid — requiring it to rely on emergency imports from neighboring regions as some fossil fuel power plants unexpectedly shut off. The New York Independent System Operator has been warning for years that the aging fossil fuel fleet, retirements of some units and slow buildout of new resources threatens reliability. 'For years we've been saying the system is changing … and we don't want to become like a Texas or California,' said Kevin Lanahan, NYISO's top spokesperson. 'What we just experienced looks a lot like what we've been warning against.' Behind-the-meter solar — rooftop and distributed solar that shows up simply as reduced demand on the system — contributed to meeting demand at high levels but began to drop off as the sun dipped lower. Wind also contributed significantly during the heat wave, which is not always the case on hot summer days, Lanahan said. But it dropped off as temperatures and demand for electricity rose. The sweltering heat caused load to peak during the heatwave around 6 p.m. on June 24 at 31,857 megawatts. That's slightly higher than the forecasted summer peak NYISO expected in its summer readiness assessment. The all-time summer peak was in July 2013 at 33,956 MWs. Lanahan said that if solar, wind and demand response resources hadn't been available, the June heatwave would've been at a historic peak. 'The behind-the-meter solar masked the load in effect,' he said. 'What if you don't have the solar in the next one? What if you don't have the wind in the next one?' The system was most strained in the evening on June 24, when the grid operator declared a 'major emergency' as neighboring regions cut scheduled exports to New York as they also grappled with high demand. 'The heat dome spread across New England, the Northeast and large parts of the Midwest, so everybody was scrambling,' Lanahan said. About 1,000 megawatts of fossil fuel units were also not available. 'The age of these units showed, and we did have some of them trip offline,' he said. NYISO made emergency energy purchases from neighboring grids to fill the gap and keep operating reserves — an essential cushion to keep the system running smoothly — at acceptable levels. The emergency state was declared at 6:13 p.m. and ended at 7:58 p.m., according to an initial report on the event. More detailed findings and 'lessons learned' are being evaluated by the NYISO. A report will be made to federal regulators, as well. — Marie J. French BPU RA — The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is holding a technical conference on Tuesday to discuss resource adequacy. The conference follows two reports in 2021 and 2023 and comes weeks ahead of a September regional conference organized by governors from PJM states. BPU President Christine Guhl-Sadovy said the goal is to look at getting as much capacity as the state can get at the lowest price. It comes amid legislative pushes to restructure the state's utilities, build small modular nuclear reactors, study leaving PJM and to keep data centers from hogging grid power. 'I think things have changed pretty drastically in the last couple of years when it comes to load projections,' Guhl-Sadovy said. The technical conference 'has to inform all of our policy decisions.' Expect speakers from Brattle Group, PJM, PSE&G, the Nuclear Energy Institute, NRDC and more. — Ry Rivard HAPPY MONDAY MORNING: Let us know if you have tips, story ideas or life advice. We're always here at mfrench@ and rrivard@ And if you like this letter, please tell a friend and/or loved one to sign up. Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories. Here's what we're watching this week: TUESDAY— The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is holding a technical conference on Tuesday to discuss resource adequacy, 9:30 a.m., Room 115 of the Education Building, The College of New Jersey, 2000 Pennington Road, Ewing, NJ 08618 — and online. AROUND NEW YORK — How faulty electrical equipment caused a subway explosion last year. — 'You Gotta Believe the IBX Is Coming.' Around New Jersey — It wasn't a windmill: 'Whale killed off Jersey Shore after bashing boat, throwing passenger into water' — Op-ed: 'Investing in N.J. cooling centers is a matter of public good and justice' What you may have missed SIERRA CLUB'S MAGA ALIGNMENT — When Taylor McFarland, the New Jersey Sierra Club's conservation manager, heard Cranbury officials were looking to seize a 21-acre farm to build housing, 'It was just like a gut punch.' The Sierra Club sided with some in the MAGA movement to oppose the town's eminent domain move against the farm, known as Andy's Farm, which would make way for 130 units of affordable housing. TRENTON WATER ON THE BRINK — POLITICO's Ry Rivard: New Jersey's capital city continues to be served by a water system 'on the brink of catastrophic failure,' the state's top environmental regulator said in a letter urging Trenton's mayor and city council to act faster to find a fix. A new DEP website documents some of the problems. R.I.P. WIND LEASES — POLITICO's Kelsey Tamborrino: The Interior Department said Wednesday it is formally rescinding all designated wind energy areas on the U.S. outer continental shelf where the federal government could hold offshore wind lease auctions. Those areas spanned the Gulf of Mexico — which the Trump administration has renamed Gulf of America — as well as the Gulf of Maine, the New York Bight, California, Oregon and the central Atlantic. BEHIND THE CURTAIN — POLITICO's Zach Colman and Alex Guillén: EPA's efforts to dismantle the endangerment finding mark a major victory for conservatives' decades-long campaign to block the federal government from using landmark environmental laws to tackle the pollution driving climate change. BPU x PSC — New Jersey's ratepayer advocate is urging the Garden State to follow New York's lead and look at killing a major offshore wind transmission project. Last month, as Marie reported, the New York Public Service Commission abandoned a transmission project intended to support offshore wind in the Empire State. Citing 'commonalities' between the two states, the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel said in a filing that his state's Board of Public Utilities should 'take similar steps to ensure that New Jersey ratepayers do not bear the unjustifiable risk.' PAY-SSAIC — Occidental Chemical Corp., known as OxyChem, filed an appeal that looks to upend the $150 million deal approved late last year that attempted to settle the federal government's claims against scores of companies accused of contaminating the Passaic River.
Fast Company
39 minutes ago
- Fast Company
Michigan's governor meets with Trump to deliver a message from the U.S. auto industry that he doesn't want to hear
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer met privately in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump to make a case he did not want to hear: The automotive industry he said he wants to save was being hurt by his tariffs. The Democrat came with a slide deck to make her points in a visual presentation. Just getting the meeting Tuesday with the Republican president was an achievement for someone viewed as a contender for her party's White House nomination in 2028. Whitmer's strategy for dealing with Trump highlights the conundrum for her and other Democratic leaders as they try to protect the interests of their states while voicing their opposition to his agenda. It's a dynamic that Whitmer has navigated much differently from many other Democratic governors. The fact that Whitmer had 'an opening to make direct appeals' in private to Trump was unique in this political moment, said Matt Grossman, a Michigan State University politics professor. It was her third meeting with Trump at the White House since he took office in January. This one, however, was far less public than the time in April when Whitmer was unwittingly part of an impromptu news conference that embarrassed her so much she covered her face with a folder. On Tuesday, she told the president that the economic damage from the tariffs could be severe in Michigan, a state that helped deliver him the White House in 2024. Whitmer also brought up federal support for recovery efforts after an ice storm and sought to delay changes to Medicaid. Trump offered no specific commitments, according to people familiar with the private conversation who were not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke only on condition of anonymity to describe it. Whitmer is hardly the only one sounding the warning of the potentially damaging consequences, including factory job losses, lower profits and coming price increases, of the import taxes that Trump has said will be the economic salvation for American manufacturing. White House spokesman Kush Desai said no other president 'has taken a greater interest in restoring American auto industry dominance than President Trump.' Trade frameworks negotiated by the administration would open up the Japanese, Korean and European markets for vehicles made on assembly lines in Michigan, Desai said. But the outreach Trump has preferred tends to be splashy presentations by tech CEOs. In the Oval Office on Wednesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook gave the president a customized glass plaque with a gold base as Cook promised $600 billion in investments. Trump claims to have brought in $17 trillion in investment commitments, although none of those numbers has surfaced yet in economic data. Under his series of executive orders and trade frameworks, U.S. automakers face import taxes of 50% on steel and aluminum, 30% on parts from China and a top rate of 25% on goods from Canada and Mexico not covered under an existing 2020 trade agreement. That puts America's automakers and parts suppliers at a disadvantage against German, Japanese and South Korean vehicles that only face a 15% import tax negotiated by Trump last month. On top of that, Trump this past week threatened a 100% tariff on computer chips, which are an integral part of cars and trucks, though he would exclude companies that produce chips domestically from the tax. Whitmer's two earlier meetings with Trump resulted in gains for Michigan. But the tariffs represent a significantly broader request of a president who has imposed them even more aggressively in the face of criticism. Materials in the presentation brought by Whitmer to the meeting and obtained by The Associated Press noted how trade with Canada and Mexico has driven $23.2 billion in investment to Michigan since 2020. General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis operate 50 factories across the state, while more than 4,000 facilities support the auto parts supply chain. Altogether, the sector supports nearly 600,000 manufacturing jobs, forming the backbone of Michigan's economy. Whitmer outlined the main points of the materials to Trump and left copies with his team. To Grossman, the Michigan State professor, a key question is whether voters who expected to be helped by tariffs would react if Trump's import taxes failed to deliver the promised economic growth. 'Everyone's aware that Michigan is a critical swing state and the auto industry has outsized influence, not just directly, but symbolically,' Grossman said. AP VoteCast found that Trump won Michigan in 2024 largely because two-thirds of its voters described the economic conditions as being poor or 'not so good.' Roughly 70% of the voters in the state who felt negatively about the economy backed the Republican. The state was essentially split over whether tariffs were a positive, with Trump getting 76% of those voters who viewed them favorably. The heads of General Motors, Ford and Stellantis have repeatedly warned the administration that the tariffs would cut company profits and undermine their global competitiveness. Their efforts have resulted in little more than a temporary, monthlong pause intended to give companies time to adjust. The reprieve did little to blunt the financial fallout. In the second quarter alone, Ford reported $800 million in tariff-related costs, while GM said the import taxes cost it $1.1 billion. Those expenses could make it harder to reinvest in new domestic factories, a goal Trump has championed. 'We expect tariffs to be a net headwind of about $2 billion this year, and we'll continue to monitor the developments closely and engage with policymakers to ensure U.S. autoworkers and customers are not disadvantaged by policy change,' Ford CEO Jim Farley said on his company's earning call. Since Trump returned to the White House, Michigan has lost 7,500 manufacturing jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Smaller suppliers have felt the strain, too. Detroit Axle, a family-run auto parts distributor, has been one of the more vocal companies in Michigan about the impact of the tariffs. The company initially announced it might have to shut down a warehouse and lay off more than 100 workers, but later said it would be able to keep the facility open, at least for now. 'Right now it's a market of who is able to survive, it's not a matter of who can thrive,' said Mike Musheinesh, owner of Detroit Axle.
