DETROIT – President Donald Trump has an unlikely ally in his push for tariffs on the auto industry: UAW President Shawn Fain.
Despite vocally supporting Democratic Party candidate Kamala Harris in the election, Fain has expressed strong support for the proposed tariffs.
Auto experts say it shouldn’t be a surprise that workers would support tariffs as a means to keep jobs in the United States, but what is surprising is how dramatically the tone has shifted from the people at the top of the UAW.
Phil Le Beau, a CNBC auto and airline industry reporter, noted, “If you are a line worker in Michigan, you like what you’re seeing right now from the Trump administration, because this is all about pushing domestic production.”
Keeping jobs in the U.S. was a rallying cry for UAW members during their strike in 2023. After securing historic wins in the election, UAW leadership initially threw its support behind the Democratic Party. However, in a surprising turn, union leaders shifted from calling Trump a “scab” who would harm workers to backing his policies.
In response to the potential tariffs, UAW President Shawn Fain stated late Wednesday night, “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.”
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Le Beau added, “From their perspective, if the President is successful in forcing automakers to bring more production into the United States, whether it’s by expanding production on an existing line or in an existing plant, or ultimately forcing automakers to say we’re going to build a new plant somewhere, that’s good news for the UAW.”
However, concerns remain about the potential impact of tariffs on car prices and sales and what that could mean for UAW members.
“I understand that auto workers, to a certain extent, they’re conditioned to say, ‘Look, I know nothing is guaranteed, even though we have a new contract that went into effect,‘” Le Beau said. “But I think that the idea that we’re going to see plants closing or lines shut down, I just don’t see that happening anytime soon.”
