The United Auto Workers on Wednesday praised President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on auto imports, calling it a “victory for autoworkers.”
In a statement, the UAW, one of the U.S.’ largest labor unions, said Trump’s plan to impose 25% on all imported autos was a continuation of the president’s “Made in America renaissance” and marked the beginning of the end of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.
“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.
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Ending the “race to the bottom,” Fain said, must include “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.”
Fain said Trump’s 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.”
Speaking at a press conference at the White House earlier Wednesday, President Trump said he will impose a 25% tariff on all imported autos – up from 2.5 % previously. He indicated the auto tariffs will take effect on April 2.
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In his Oval Office remarks, Trump said the tariffs “will lead to the construction of a lot of plants, in this case auto plants, and you’re going to see numbers that you haven’t seen both in terms of employment. It take a little while, you’ll have great construction numbers initially, and then ultimately you’re going to have a lot of people making a lot of cars.”
FOX Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.
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