One of the nation’s largest, most progressive labor unions is backing President Donald Trump’s hefty tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports.
The United Auto Workers issued a statement Tuesday celebrating Trump’s tariffs for reversing free trade policies that harmed workers.
“Tariffs are a powerful tool in the toolbox for undoing the injustice of anti-worker trade deals. 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,” the statement reads.
The UAW is blaming corporate America for the potential price hikes brought by Trump’s tariffs on a range of Mexican and Canadian goods including electronics, agricultural products, vehicles, and auto parts. Markets reacted negatively to the onset of Trump’s tariffs Tuesday as many economists expect prices to increase because of them.
The labor union is hoping to work with the Trump administration on the auto tariffs Trump has promised for next month.
“The UAW is in active negotiations with the Trump Administration about their plans to end the free trade disaster. We look forward to working with the White House to shape the auto tariffs in April to benefit the working class,” the UAW said.
Canada is already moving to impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports in response to Trump’s actions and Mexico is set to announce its response measures on Sunday. Separately, Trump implemented another 10 percent tariff on Chinese imports, prompting China to target a number of U.S. industries with tariffs of its own. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested Tuesday that the Trump administration is exploring possible relief from the tariffs and could have an announcement as soon as tomorrow.
“Please explain to Governor Trudeau, of Canada, that when he puts on a Retaliatory Tariff on the U.S., our Reciprocal Tariff will immediately increase by a like amount!” Trump said Tuesday on Truth Social, mocking outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The UAW, led by left-wing union boss Shawn Fain, endorsed Kamala Harris over Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Fain spoke at the Democratic National Convention last August to tout Harris’s economic agenda and lambast Trump for being a “scab” opposed to the interests of workers.
Fain clashed with Trump and billionaire Elon Musk last summer when the pair endorsed the idea of firing striking workers. The UAW filed federal labor charges against Trump and Musk for their comments made on an X stream in August.
The UAW regularly advocates for progressive causes and donates money to Democratic candidates and affiliated political action committees. A growing portion of the union’s membership consists of leftist graduate students who have pushed the union to advocate for student loan forgiveness and an anti-Israel foreign policy.
Nonetheless, Trump swept the rust belt swing states this past November on his way to a resounding electoral victory over Harris. After the election, Fain took a more conciliatory tone, writing in a January Washington Post op-ed that he was ready to work with Trump on trade policy. Fain made similar comments in his post-election message to UAW members urging them to get involved in the political process and remain focused on the union’s mission of waging class war on behalf of workers.
Fain’s union remains under the supervision of a federal monitor because of the UAW’s decades-long culture of corruption and self-enrichment among top executives, which has resulted in several high-profile criminal convictions.