Will lawmakers in Lansing apply Buy America rules for Michigan-made yellow pigment for the state’s road-pricing projects?
The yellow lane markings on Michigan’s roads are probably something that only crosses your mind occasionally – like when you’re having trouble finding or staying in your lane because the lines are faded and need repainting. They are one of those things we take for granted and don’t think about until we really need them.
But have you ever thought about where that distinct yellow color comes from? As it turns out, that yellow pigment in the road paint is made right here in Michigan.
The Sun Chemical factory in Muskegon is the last U.S. factory producing the yellow pigments used in road and highway paint. It resides in a rural region which has experienced decades of economic decline due to offshoring. The furniture factories and paper mills have left. Sixty-two percent of the factory’s staff live in an area with a nineteen percent poverty rate. The workers at Sun Chemical, on the other hand, are represented by the United Steelworkers and are offered both a pension and a 401k. And they face an existential threat from unfair foreign competition, which includes wage suppression, intellectual property theft, massive overcapacity, and questionable environmental practices.
Almost all of the yellow pigment used on America’s roads – ninety-six percent – is sourced from foreign manufacturers, resulting in taxpayer dollars leaving the country.China has driven American prices below profitability, compelling Sun Chemical to sell at a loss while seeking fair trade intervention. Without a solution, the nation risks losing its final domestic producer. This 200-year-old company, with factories across the U.S., contributes millions to local economies and leads in color innovation.
A couple of years ago, the state of Michigan decided to do something about that and adopted a state level provision in 2025’s budget bill with strong bi-partisan support. That provision required all water-based yellow paint used for state road striping projects to be made with U.S.-manufactured yellow pigment. This requirement has been successfully implemented for the 2026 construction season – following communication to stakeholders by MDOT, yellow pigment orders were fulfilled to paint makers, who then supplied paint to the road striping contractors. The paint is still being applied to Michigan roads today.
However, in this year’s budget discussion, that provision is under threat from companies that moved a lot of their production overseas. Why? Because they don’t want or care if American producers are disadvantaged by unfair international trade policies if it impacts their ability to use these imports to leverage the last remaining American supplier.
Their argument just makes zero sense. Why would the state government kill a program supporting much-needed jobs in Muskegon? These jobs reinvest our taxpayer money into our local workers, companies, and communities. Dismantling this provision would simply reward companies that have moved their operations, investment dollars, and jobs away to foreign countries. It’s time that we assure the livelihoods of those workers are not at risk, and that American-produced yellow pigment can compete fairly with our foreign competition.
The need to create a fair and level playing field has never been more evident. This program gives local companies that employ our friends and neighbors a better shot at the procurement markets governed by Michigan – instead of handing these contracts to companies that don’t pay taxes here, hire people here, or contribute to the state economy.
This is a commonsense provision, and we encourage the legislature to keep it in place.
John Nichols is president of United Steelworkers Local 2-987. Russell Schwartz is vice president and chief technology officer of Sun Chemical.