If there's one candidate for federal office this year who understands the potentially adverse implications for the Detroit 3 automakers in President Donald Trump's trade war, it's John E. James.

James, CEO of Renaissance Global Logistics, runs a Detroit-based business that revolves around exporting American-made engines, transmissions and other vital parts for Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. to vehicle assembly plants in 19 different countries.

If there's one candidate for federal office who understands the importance of the U.S.-Canadian trading relationship, it's Sandy Pensler — James' opponent for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in the Aug. 7 primary.

Pensler is owner of Korex Cos., which manufactures dishwasher detergents and household cleaners at plants in Wixom, Chicago and Toronto. His products are made for brands such as Clorox, Ultra Shine, OxiClean, Walmart's Great Value and the private labels of Amazon, Wegmans and Kroger — and then shipped all over North and South America.

The two businessmen are uniquely qualified to represent Michigan's manufacturing interests in the U.S. Senate and before the White House, should one of them unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow in the November general election.

But neither James nor Pensler has yet dared to cross a Republican president whose scattershot tariffs and still-evolving trade policies have rattled allies, automakers, suppliers and chambers of commerce that are wary — not to mention weary — of where exactly this trade war is headed.

James and Pensler are running traditional campaigns appealing to conservative GOP voters on abortion, gun rights, immigration and national security, while the Republican president is pursuing policies that could harm their own businesses.

"I think that logical minds will agree that no one wants a trade war on one hand. And American workers have been taken advantage of by our trading partners," James said in an interview at his company's headquarters on Fort Street.

A look inside the two businesses James and Pensler operate reveals just how integral global trade is to their success.

At Pensler's Korex plant near Pontiac Trail and Wixom Road, the powdered dishwasher detergent produced by Michigan workers was developed by chemists at a company facility in Canada.

Korex's popular dishwasher gel packs are sourced with American-made chemicals and polyvinyl alcohol, but manufactured at one of the Toronto plants and shipped back to U.S. customers — reflecting just how intertwined the economies of both countries have become.

"They absolutely are," Pensler said. "There's great synergies in the supply chain across Michigan. They're very intertwined."

On July 1, Canada slapped a 10 percent tariff on automatic dishwasher detergent produced at Pensler's Wixom plant, which he acknowledges has "constrained some of our dish product sales." He did not know how much financial impact it would have to a company that does about $200 million in annual sales.

"At this point, we're not real worried about it," Pensler said of the tariff. "I think the president will negotiate a solution that ends up being better, with lower tariffs than when we started."