Autoworkers union cheers Trump's 'aggressive' tariff actions

[In It to Win It]

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union said it supported President Trump’s Tuesday tariffs, offering a full backing for the “aggressive” action seeking to alter past trade agreements with neighboring countries.

“Tariffs are a powerful tool in the toolbox for undoing the injustice of anti-worker trade deals,” the union wrote in a Tuesday statement.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration imposed 25 percent tariffs on most imports from Canada and Mexico and a new 10 percent tariff on imports from China.

“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 union wrote.

In its response to the president’s move, the UAW accused corporations of “killing good blue-collar jobs” by prioritizing foreign manufacturing over production within the United States.

“We want to see corporate America, from the auto industry and beyond, recommit to the working class that makes the products and generates the profits that keep this country running,” the union wrote in their statement.

https://thehill.com/business/5175952-uaw-trump-tariffs-china-mexico-canada/

[Nevilledog]

1. They can cheer it from home after they're laid off.

[WarGamer]

2. This thread will provide a conundrum for DU'ers who support unions but hate Trump.

[Raftergirl]

4. I'm a big union supporter, but you can't teach stupid.

[msongs]

5. the laws of unintended consequences nt

[BannonsLiver]

7. Is that your way of saying that the tariffs are tough medicine we all need to take?

No need to respond. Your pro Doge post from a few weeks ago said it all.

[WarGamer]

15. ok

Criticism but no discussion.

Let's hear YOUR own words about tariffs.

Good or bad?

BTW do you support increased Corporate Taxes?

Do you agree that Canada can flood the market with lumber and hurt workers in the PNW?

If you're building a commercial building, why is engineering steel shipped to the USA on cargo ships from China?

And factories in PA are shuttered.

These are 20th Century DEMOCRATIC talking points... not MAGA talking points.

[Phoenix61]

22. Factories in PA we're shuttered because it was

cheaper to build new factories over seas than to update the old factories here. The US tax code had a lot to do with that. When corporate taxes were high companies looked for right offs, capital expenditures and salaries fit the bill. Lower taxes and it’s cheaper to just pay the taxes and run the factory into the ground. Significantly raising taxes on all overseas profits would encourage those companies to come back home without screwing US consumers. Structure the taxes so the more they invest in the new factories here the less they pay on overseas profits. It’s extremely doable.
I’ll add, look at what Japan has done in the steel industry.

[Kingofalldems]

23. Looks pro Trump all the way.

[WarGamer]

26. le sigh...

[Phoenix61]

16. What's the conundrum? nt

[WarGamer]

18. That the UAW agrees with Trump on this issue...

I assume the vast majority of DU'ers support the UAW.

[MrSkunkB]

38. I grew up in the Rust Belt

My neighbor was a bigwig in USW. Watching him praise George W. Bush for “saving steel” is still the biggest example of cognitive dissonance I ever experienced.

I think he remained a Democrat until he died, but the rank and file sure as hell didn’t.

[Raftergirl]

3. I wouldn't want to be an autoworker when they find out that the tariffs are going to cost them their jobs.

[h2ebits]

6. Their lack of comprehension and critical thinking skills is very sad. . . .

The painful truth will hit them soon.

[StarryNite]

8. FAFO

[BannonsLiver]

11. Good.

I have no empathy for anyone who supports this shit show in the face of the ongoing disaster. Enjoy being destitute.

[Kingofalldems]

25. I am sure they will like it when draconian labor laws come about.

[birdographer]

27. My thoughts as well when reading it.

Do they actually have any grasp at all of what the consequences of this will be?

[h2ebits]

31. I don't think so.

Too many of us are so busy trying to live--to have a family--to feed, clothe, and put a roof over our heads that we don't see anything except the very small bubble of our own life and everything else is just too much to take in.

Only when it arrives at one's doorstep and can't be avoided does the reality sink in.

[birdographer]

36. I see what you are saying

But there’s a saying that information is power.

Perhaps it can be, if not avoided, then assuaged a bit if you are aware of what is coming. Would you want to wait till a hurricane comes to your doorstep before being aware it is coming? Old Irish proverb—"better the devil you know." The idea behind this proverb is that dealing with a bad thing that you already know is there is better than something new and unknown. Since you don’t know much about the new thing, it could turn out to be much worse.

When it arrives at one’s doorstep and can’t be avoided, it helps sometimes to have seen it coming.

[Solly Mack]

9. I look forward to the full listing of all the good blue-collar jobs created by the tariffs.

[Progressive dog]

10. The problem is that tariffs

hurt everyone that buys stuff.

[alarimer]

12. I assume this means tariffs on American brands of cars that are made in Canada and Mexico as well.

I don't see how this improves the plight of autoworkers. Sure some cars are assembled here. But rarely are all parts of a car made in the US. So those parts they have import will cost more and cars will then cost more. I'm not looking to buy a car anytime soon under these circumstances. And a lot of other people will also avoid it.

[MichMan]

24. The parts manufacturers used to be represented by the UAW also

Those jobs all moved to Mexico and China too.

[ananda]

13. Boy the stupid runs deep here.

Sometimes I just don't know how people
can be so stupid.

[flvegan]

14. "We can't wait to be out of work!" n/t

[kerry-is-my-prez]

17. The leopards are lined up waiting...

[Liberal In Texas]

19. If one is going to use tariffs to bring back auto manufacturing to the US, it can't be done all at once, willy nilly.

It took years for the auto industry to move and rebuild factories in Mexico and Canada. It needs to be started small. Say, add 10% (I don't know what a real good amount would be, just go with it for now) to the price of some component - like batteries or engines or mirrors. At some point if the tariff gets edged up over time, the bean counters in the car business will figure out that maybe it would be a good idea to move a division back in the US. But this is going to take years and years.

Oh, and you give them tax breaks to move back, unlike what the repubs did back in the day giving companies tax breaks to MOVE OVERSEAS. They should have to pay a hefty tax on profits if they don't pour much of it back into building the company and paying the workers.

That's how this mess started.

[BlueHurricane]

20. I thought Felon (R) did tariffs because of fentanyl?

I guess using fentanyl as a reason wasn’t polling as well with the repubs so they’re trying “bringing back manufacturing” instead. Ok got it.

Well last term he did this it lead to increased prices and a reduction in manufacturing jobs but sure.

If they want manufacturing to come back to the US why not provide incentives to companies instead of taxing consumers? Worked under Biden-Harris who increased manufacturing jobs.

Me thinks that’s not what they want.

[MichMan]

21. This might provide some context

Dozens and dozens of US plants closed down while the production and jobs were moved to Mexico.

UAW membership had fluctuated over the past 15 years, but is not nearly as high as historic membership levels. Nearly two decades ago, the UAW had more than 650,000 members. Its peak was 1.5 million in 1979.

In the past 10 years, union membership peaked in 2017 at 430,871 members and has slowly declined since.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/09/15/uaw-membership-numbers-through-years/70865885007/

[aggiesal]

28. Stupid is what Stupid does. Some will lose their jobs over a huge car parts imports industry ...

Also I learned that car parts go across US/Canada multiple times garnering tariff fees on each crossing.

I agree that we should bring back auto industry from China, Mexico & Canada, but the auto makers will relocated to areas in the US with lower wages and that are not Union backers.

[gab13by13]

30. Bingo

If auto factories are relocated to the US because of tariffs, they will not be unionized.

[MichMan]

37. Any plant owned by Ford, GM or Stellantis will be UAW

Regardless of what state it is located in

[Aussie105]

29. Tariffs will bring back the auto worker jobs!

But only if you are a shallow thinker.

The American factories won't be built, and equipment installed, or older factories brought back up to full production, overnight.

Workers will need to be trained, local parts supply chains established.

And of course prices will be higher, and consumers - already hit by tariff based price rises on everything - will not be buying these 'every part made in America' cars.

[Hekate]

32. American Morons

[PassingFair]

33. Who is speaking for the UAW here?

“The union wrote “. No attribution, no link to any spokesperson or source.
The only actual quote is a pro-Biden quote from Shawn Fein.
What am I missing missing here?

[orangecrush]

34. Someone got paid off

[sakabatou]

35. Leopards are getting ready to pounce