For decades, American autoworkers have borne the brunt of plant closures, wage cuts, and offshoring — all in the name of “free trade.” Corporations, enabled by broken trade deals, hollowed out industrial communities and shipped good-paying jobs overseas. That chapter has closed.

President Donald Trump’s bold move to impose a 25% tariff on imported automobiles and key auto parts signals a major shift, one that the United Auto Workers union is calling a victory for American laborers.

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UAW President Shawn Fain, once a Trump critic and Harris supporter, put it plainly: “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.”

For too long, automakers have chased after cheap foreign labor, shuttering American plants as they rake in record profits. These tariffs send a clear message: If you want to sell in the world’s most lucrative auto market, you must build in America — and hire American workers.

At the heart of the UAW’s shift is their recognition that Trump’s revised auto tariffs will benefit American workers and reinvigorate domestic manufacturing. The swift impact of these tariffs will be felt in plants that have long sat idle or been completely shuttered. 

Consider Michigan’s Warren Truck Assembly Plant, where over 1,000 workers were laid off while Stellantis continued to produce high-end trucks in Mexico — paying workers there as little as $3 an hour. Or look at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga facility, where the company slashed American labor hours during contract negotiations, even as 75% of its North American production continued unabated in Mexico. With these tariffs in place, automakers have been given a simple choice: Bring jobs back to U.S. soil or lose access to the world’s most valuable auto market.

Beyond reviving existing plants, these tariffs could breathe new life into once-thriving factories such as  Ohio’s Lordstown Assembly, which employed thousands of workers before it was gutted by free trade deals. Belvidere Assembly, another casualty of offshoring, is slated to reopen, but with only a fraction of its former workforce. With strong trade protections in place, these facilities could see a full resurgence, restoring thousands of jobs to communities that need them desperately.

Auto manufacturers have already begun to respond to Trump’s auto tariffs. General Motors is ramping up production and hiring in Indiana, while Ford Motor Co. is launching a “From America, For America” campaign offering employee pricing to consumers.

This isn’t just about economics — it’s also a matter of national security. Decades of dependence on foreign manufacturing have destroyed America’s industrial base and left our supply chains vulnerable, as the COVID-19 pandemic made painfully clear. Trump’s tariffs are a crucial step toward restoring American industrial strength and ensuring we can sustain domestic auto production when it matters most.

The numbers paint a troubling picture. In 1985, American-owned auto plants produced 97% of the cars sold in the United States. Today, half of the 16 million vehicles purchased in the U.S. are imported, and the domestic content of so-called American-made cars has plummeted to just 25%. Meanwhile, the U.S. trade deficit in auto parts has ballooned to $93.5 billion. These tariffs aim to reverse these troubling trends by bolstering domestic manufacturing and reducing America’s dependence on foreign-made vehicles and parts.

Another challenge for both the White House and UAW leadership is addressing deeply flawed trade deals such as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. These agreements have failed to prevent job offshoring and have done little to address national security risks posed by auto imports.

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For decades, policymakers have made empty promises, allowing corporations to decimate thriving American industrial towns in pursuit of cheap labor. Now, Trump’s auto tariffs offer a long-overdue course correction, one that prioritizes American jobs and working-class dignity over corporate profits. Automakers have spent years reaping the rewards of weak trade policies; they must now bear the costs of these tariffs, rather than shifting them onto consumers.

Corporations have been sent an unmistakable message: If you want to sell cars in America, build them in America. And for the American auto worker, the message is one of hope: Help has arrived at last.

Jacob Sagert is a policy analyst in the Center for American Freedom at the America First Policy Institute.