Gov Walker, Wisconsin companies, against Trump tariff proposal

Milwaukee Metal Products makes parts out of both steel and aluminum.

President Betty-Jane Parrott says a new tariff on foreign metal would be bad for business.

"The particular aluminum tread plate that we use is not available domestically, so the tariff is just going to be an adder, a 10 percent adder onto our cost of material," Parrott said.

President Donald Trump is calling for tariffs of 10 percent on aluminum and 25 percent on steel. Gov. Scott Walker says that would hurt the bottom line for Wisconsin businesses.

"We've heard from Wisconsin employers, whether that's Harley-Davidson, MillerCoors, Seneca Foods," Walker said.

Walker says some businesses could move to avoid the tariff.

"It could have a devastating impact. BMO's alone has 9,000 employees nation-wide, 5,000 of which are here in the state of Wisconsin. If they were to look in these particular areas, you're talking about potentially thousands of employees that could be laid off, and those products could be produced in places like Canada."

Parrott says half their costs are materials, so increased prices will impact consumers.

"If it's a 10 percent tariff, half of our cost of our part is material, it's going to be a five percent jump in the cost to the customer."

President Trump says those tariffs could be imposed as early as next week.