The United Auto Workers is supporting President Trump's new auto tariff's, calling them a "victory for autoworkers" and the "end of NAFTA and the 'free trade' disaster."
In a statement issued March 26, 2025, the UAW also said:
The Trump administration announced major tariffs on passenger cars and trucks entering the U.S. market, marking the beginning of the end of a thirty-plus year “free trade” disaster. This is a long-overdue shift away from a harmful economic framework that has devastated the working class and driven a race to the bottom across borders in the auto industry. It signals a return to policies that prioritize the workers who build this country—rather than the greed of ruthless corporations.
“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,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “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 UAW and 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 continued, saying the tariff's will bring back thousands of "good, union auto jobs":
With these tariffs, thousands of good-paying blue collar auto jobs could be brought back to working-class communities across the United States within a matter of months, simply by adding additional shifts or lines in a number of underutilized auto plants. 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.
For a list of the Big Three auto plants included click here.
The UAW continues contends that:
The economic benefits of filling these plants back up with product and good auto jobs would be enormous and have a cascading effect throughout communities from Michigan to Tennessee.
At Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the company recently violated labor law by unilaterally announcing the elimination of a shift during first contract negotiations. Volkswagen makes 75% of their North America product in Mexico for $7 an hour, and over 40% of their U.S. sales are produced by workers earning poverty wages in Mexico. That shift should be restored immediately as production shifts back to the US.
At Warren Truck Assembly Plant in Warren, Michigan, for example, over 1,000 autoworkers are laid off while the plant sits underutilized and $100,000 Stellantis trucks are built in Mexico for $3 an hour. These layoffs were announced less than six months ago and could be undone. Those jobs could be brought back to Michigan immediately with well-designed auto tariffs.
In addition to idle capacity at existing plants, there are plants that stand empty and with moderate retooling could easily employ tens of thousands of workers. Lordstown Assembly sits empty in Lordstown, Ohio, and employed nearly 10,000 autoworkers when NAFTA was passed. Belvidere Assembly is slated to reopen with around 1,500 jobs; as recently as 2019, the plant employed 5,000 autoworkers.
The UAW says the the Big Three have either closed or spun of 65 facilities in the past 20 years, adding:
There is plenty of work to go around at profitable margins, and plenty of working-class people looking for good, union jobs. With a serious tariff regime, we can incentivize the Big Three and the rest of the auto industry to reinvest in the American autoworker, and America’s blue-collar communities.
To read the press release click here.
Source: UAW Press Release.
UAW President Shawn Fain at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, August 19, 2024. Editorial Use Only: Maxim Elramsisy/Shutterstock.com.