In January, he threatened Toyota that if it did not close a plant it is building in Mexico, it would have to pay “a big border tax.”
In response, Toyota’s North American president, Jim Lentz, said a border tax would raise the price of every American-made vehicle — ultimately resulting in job losses in the United States —
because nearly all of those domestically produced vehicles include parts made abroad.
“You might think you’re protecting a class of workers, and end up having an impact on others.”
The complex filaments connecting average Americans to the forces of global trade can be seen in the lives of Mr. Marshall, laid off by Alcoa,
and his two older brothers: Troy, 46, who works on the factory floor at Toyota in Princeton, Ind., where a map with pins in 20 countries depicts the reach of its exports; and Jeremy, 41, an elementary schoolteacher, who is struggling to maintain his perch in the middle class.
Should Mr. Trump impose steep import taxes on goods from Mexico
and China, economists say it could drive other nations to raise taxes on American exports — at a cost in American jobs.
Import tariffs that might have protected Brandon’s smelting job could theoretically threaten Troy’s job at Toyota, as well as raise the living costs for Jeremy, who finds
that even as a member of the white-collar middle class, he needs a second job to make ends meet.
Would Jeremy buy a $15 American tape measure — and would he see it as protecting his brothers’ jobs?
But if all those parts coming for Toyota cost more money to get here, is it going to turn jobs away in the long run?”
A version of this article appears in print on March 4, 2017, on Page A8 of the New York edition
with the headline: For Three Brothers in Indiana, ‘America First’ Cuts Two Ways.
“If there’s a tape measure built in the U. S. for $15 and one from China for $6, I try to catch myself now and pay for the American one,” he said.
