The United Auto Workers (UAW) applauded President Trump’s new auto tariffs, thanking him for “stepping up to end the free trade disaster that has devastated working-class communities for decades.” On Wednesday evening, Trump announced a 25-percent tariff on all auto imports into the U.S.—a move designed to protect American jobs and manufacturing, which have been undermined by free trade deals for over 25 years.
UAW President Shawn Fain, who supported former President Joe Biden last year and in 2020, praised the auto tariffs as a vital investment in the nation’s automotive industry. “We applaud the Trump administration for stepping up to end the free trade disaster that has devastated working-class communities for decades. Ending the race to the bottom in the auto industry starts with fixing our broken trade deals, and the Trump administration has made history with today’s actions,” Fain said in a statement. He added:
But ending the race to the bottom also means securing union rights for autoworkers everywhere with a strong National Labor Relations Board, a decent retirement with Social Security benefits protected, healthcare for all workers including through Medicare and Medicaid, and dignity on and off the job.
The UAWand the working class in general couldn’t care less about party politics; working people expect leaders to work together to deliver results. The UAW has been clear: we will work with any politician, regardless of party, who is willing to reverse decades of working-class people going backwards in the most profitable times in our nation’s history. These tariffs are a major step in the right direction for autoworkers and blue-collar communities across the country, and it is now on the automakers, from the Big Three to Volkswagen and beyond, to bring back good union jobs to the U.S.
The UAW said in a press release that the auto tariffs have the potential to bring home thousands of jobs “within a matter of months, simply by adding additional shifts or lines in a number of underutilized auto plants.” He went on: “Right now, thousands of autoworkers are laid off at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis following recent decisions by auto executives to ship jobs to Mexico.”
“Across a dozen Big Three auto plants that have seen major declines, production has fallen by 2 million units per year in the past decade, while millions of vehicles sold here are made with low-wage, high-exploitation labor abroad. That means auto companies that have made record profits get to drive wages down further for both Mexican and U.S. workers while Wall Street and the corporate class get record payouts,” Fain continued. Already, some foreign automakers have suggested that they will move their production to the United States to avoid paying such tariffs — the precise goal the Trump administration is looking for.
