As recently as 2007 the Detroit plant employed 2,200 workers. In 2008 more than 3,600 American Axle workers at plants in Michigan and New York State waged a bitter 3-month strike against concessions.

Detroit Axle, a large aftermarket auto parts dealer based in Ferndale, says it may go out of business within weeks unless it gets certain tariff relief on the goods it imports from China.

The business grew quickly, and Detroit Axle came to stock thousands of individual parts — brake calipers for your 1997 Chevy Blazer, wheel bearings for your 2009 Ford Taurus, CV axles for your ...