The United Auto Workers (UAW) union praised President Trump’s new tariffs on Tuesday, claiming it’s necessary for America to “end the free trade disaster.”
The union, with more than 1 million members, touted Trump’s decision to place a new round of 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, where America imports tens of billions of dollars worth of cars and parts every year.
“Tariffs are a powerful tool in the toolbox for undoing the injustice of anti-worker trade deals,” the union said in a statement.
“We are glad to see an American president take aggressive action on ending the free trade disaster that has dropped like a bomb on the working class.”
Although the union has historically supported Democrats, endorsing Kamala Harris in 2024, the UAW has said it’s eager to start negotiating with the Trump administration to discuss the auto tariffs and how it’ll benefit their members.
The UAW, which has come to embrace Trump’s America-first policy, is hoping the tariffs prompt American automakers to bring jobs and factories back to the US.
American automakers have kept the cost of business down by investing in production plants north and south of the border, savings that would effectively be undone by the new tariffs.
The US imported $87 billion worth of cars and another $64 billion in parts from Mexico last year, according to the US Commerce Department.
America also imported nearly $57 million in cars and parts from Canada, according to the Census Bureau.
Trump’s tariffs are expected to see the cost of vehicles rise, along with a plethora of goods across the US.
Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, previously warned last month that the new tariffs could undo all the savings automakers have enjoyed thus far, leaving the sector fuming as there’s little recourse other than to raise prices at the consumer’s expense.
The UAW said that despite the looming price increases, it will be companies that raise the costs that are ultimately to blame, not Trump.
“There’s been a lot of talk of these tariffs ‘disrupting’ the economy. But if corporate America chooses to price-gouge the American consumer or attack the American worker because they don’t want to pay their fair share, corporate America bears the blame for that decision,” the UAW said.
Economists have repeatedly predicted that the American auto industry could be among the biggest victims of the trade wars, with Kelley Blue Book estimating that the price of the average new car could spike by $3,000 more.
The vehicle valuation and automotive research company also estimated that the price of some full-size pickup trucks could shoot up by $10,000.
With Post wires
