WASHINGTON โ€” Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers appears to be breaking with President Donald Trump on another key issue less than a month before Election Day.

"Drinking a Labatt and watching the Red Wings, man, it just doesn't get any more Michigan than that," Rogers said in a new video ad released on Oct. 7. "Here in Michigan, we know that Canada is not our enemy. We need to end this tariff war now."

The statement marks the second time in recent weeks that Rogers spoke out โ€” albeit without criticizing Trump by name โ€” against one of the president's unpopular initiatives. This time, Rogers is calling for an end to Trump's widespread trade war against Canada, America's biggest trading partner.

The Republican Senate nominee also split with Trump on the Iran war in late September, saying it "needs to end and end quickly."

Rogers' public shift on tariffs comes amid mounting opposition in Michigan to Trump's tariffs and GOP concerns that voters will reject their candidates up and down the ballot for failing to address cost-of-living concerns. Election Day is Nov. 3, though more than 200,000 Michiganians have already cast absentee ballots.

The Republican Senate hopeful debuted the ad the day before he is set to face off in his first debate against Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed in Grand Rapids. The 30-second spot features Rogers wearing a flannel shirt and sitting at a bar stool at Bigg's Bar & Grill on Gratiot Avenue in Chesterfield Township.

More: Most Michigan voters oppose Trump tariffs on Canada, poll shows

In an interview last month, Rogers defended some of Trump's global tariffs and argued they had helped bring some manufacturing back to the U.S., pointing to General Motors Co.'s decision to move production of the Chevy Silverado pickup truck from Mexico to its Orion Township assembly plant.

He acknowledged that the tariffs against Canada are going to pinch Michigan consumers and said his team had conversations with the Trump administration about them.

"This is why you want to send somebody back (to Washington) who can have a conversation about what's working for Michigan and what might not work for Michigan, if you send somebody back that all they want to do is get on TikTok and talk about President Trump, we're not going to fix up one single problem," Rogers told The Detroit News.

"But if you send a guy like me back, we're going to have this conversation."

Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed, by contrast, has frequently bashed Trump and Rogers over the ongoing trade war with Michigan's international neighbor.

"Donald Trump is launching this trade war for his own vanity, and he's asking Michigan families to pay the price ... Trump has been failing Michigan through these chaotic tariffs and bad trade deals for far too long. Mike Rogers won't do anything but rubber stamp them," El-Sayed said in an Aug. 26 statement.

"When I'm in the United States Senate, I'll fight for real, fair trade deals that create good-paying jobs for Michigan workers and prioritize our families over billionaires and corporate greed."

He added that night at a campaign event: "Canadians are the only people I know who will preemptively apologize for something they never did ... You gotta be an a------ to pick a trade war with Canada. I'm so sorry, like, they're like the nicest people on Earth."

gschwab@detroitnews.com

mburke@detroitnews.com

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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Rogers shifts gears, calls for end to Trump's 'tariff war' with Canada