In a business incubation hub in Sterling Heights on Tuesday, a small group representing a range of economic interests, from farming and dairy to smart technology in clothing, tried to raise a warning that President Donald Trump’s tariffs are costing Americans big money.

The total through November, just in Michigan, was $1.9 billion, according to U.S. Census Bureau and Agriculture Department data provided by the Tariffs Hurt the Heartland campaign. The campaign, which USA TODAY has said is supported by "more than 80 trade associations representing thousands of businesses and workers," says that "overall, Americans have paid an additional $46 billion since the trade war began in February 2018 through November 2019."

The central message from the session? That those costs, which have been largely absorbed until now by suppliers, will eventually hit consumers, or businesses will simply fail.

“Higher-cost consumer products have a direct impact on our standard of living in the United States,” said John Swiatek, CEO of Coliant Corp., a smart apparel supplier based in Sterling Heights, north of Detroit.

The company has produced things like heated jacket liners and gloves. Its most sensitive technology is produced in Michigan then exported to China, where lower value items are added to the finished goods, before they are shipped to 36 countries.

The tariffs, directed at everything from steel and aluminum to the administration’s fight with China, mean uncertainty, and Swiatek noted the uncertainty means delays in things as basic as orders.

“The current tariffs and trade war have made it nearly impossible for a company like ours to bring in revenues from around the world to here in Michigan,” he said. “Meanwhile, other high-tech countries like Germany and China are enjoying the competitive benefit of this disruption.”

That disruption affects not just manufacturing but also agriculture, such as soybeans, where countries like Brazil have moved to fill the trade opening left by the U.S. fight with China.

The U.S. has signed a “Phase One” trade deal with China, but experts say issues remain and the prospect of tariffs has not gone away.

Trump has been outspoken in his defense of his trade war tactics.

"When you are the big 'piggy bank' that other countries have been ripping off for years (to a level that is not to be believed), tariffs are a great negotiating tool, a great revenue producer and, most importantly, a powerful way to get ... companies to come to the USA and to get companies that have left us for other lands to come back home," Trump tweeted in July.

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While the president’s signing of the replacement for NAFTA, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, is clearly a relief for companies — Canada must still sign off on the deal, although that is expected — the continuing reliance on tariffs as part of trade negotiations raises concerns for many.

The Peterson Institute for International Economics raised the danger of “cascading” consequences from Trump's tariffs in an article Tuesday.

“President Donald Trump's brazen move in late January to extend his previously imposed ‘national security’ tariffs on steel and aluminum to cover even more products was greeted with a collective yawn by many weary of his unending trade wars. But this latest action was significant because, explicitly for the first time, Trump was imposing new tariffs to help an industry suffering because of his previous tariffs,” according to the article.

Alan Deardorff, an economics and public policy professor at the University of Michigan, said the message about the dangers of tariffs is not new, but the warnings seem to fall on deaf ears.

“A tariff is a tax and like any tax it’s got to be paid by someone,” Deardorff said.

Michigan relies more on trade than any other state, and in particular, the auto industry is tied heavily to trade, he said. Supply chains cross not just North America but also Asia.

Most of the cost from tariffs are paid by those in the United States, Deardorff said.

“The response of the Trump administration, it seems like anything that happens, is there’s going to be tariffs, and he certainly doesn’t deny it,” Deardorff said, referencing the president’s comments that he is “Tariff Man.” “He is hurting the rest of the world, but he is hurting us more than anything else.”

Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com or 313-223-4272. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence.