Anti-Trump UAW president backs tariffs on foreign-made cars: They could bring work back in very short order

WASHINGTON — United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain said Sunday that President Trump’s looming 25% tariff on foreign-made cars could swiftly boost American manufacturing jobs.Fain, a prominent anti-Trump campaigner ahead of last year’s election, said that the levies could benefit workers and use remarkably similar language as the White House on how carmakers could onshore jobs.“We have excess capacity” at manufacturing plants, Fain said, using near identical framing as the White House.“They could bring work back in very short order.”“Tariffs are a tool in the toolbox to get these companies to do the right thing, and the intent behind it is to bring jobs back here, and, you know, invest in the American workers,” Fain said in an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”Trump’s stiff auto tariffs are set to take effect Wednesday and could trigger upheaval in the car industry.Wednesday is also the advertised launch date for Trump’s 25% tariffs on other Canadian and Mexican goods and his “reciprocal” tariffs on other major trading partners such as the European Union and Japan.About half of vehicles sold in the US are foreign-made, mostly in Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Germany.Fain wasn’t entirely uncritical of his longtime political foe — emphasizing that he wants union membership to grow as a result of a potential influx of auto jobs.“It doesn’t do any good if they’re going to locate them in places and they’re not going to have the opportunity to have a union, you know.

And so naturally, we have concerns,” the union boss said.Former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s 2025 challenger, were closely aligned with the UAW — going so far as to snub non-unionized Tesla from a promotional electric vehicle showcase on the White House lawn.Trump and Fain have exchanged insults publicly, with the president calling on auto-union members to oust Fain, who on Sunday offered critical words abo...