Automakers: Trump tariffs would lead to job losses
But UAW official offers support for president
WASHINGTON – Automotive industry representatives on Thursday blasted President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on imported autos and auto parts, with trade groups saying a 25 percent tax on imports would increase costs on American-made cars as well.
The result would decrease production and job losses, they warned.
While thanking Trump for his leadership, former Missouri governor Matt Blunt, head of the American Auto Policy Council made up of Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler, said the three are “very concerned that the positive effects of the president’s policies could be undermined by tariffs.”
But Trump’s potential tariffs drew support from the United Auto Workers union, which represents hourly employees of the traditional Detroit Three automakers in the U.S.
Trump says European and Chinese tariffs on U.S.-made vehicles are unfair. Automakers say raising tariffs risks undermining their investments, hurting sales and eviscerating jobs.
Blunt said that tariffs – if imposed on national security grounds as suggested by Trump – would result in a net loss of jobs “by increasing the costs of manufacturing cars … leading to lower demand, lower sales and production and ultimately fewer jobs in the American auto industry.”
Blunt and others told Commerce Department officials – with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in the audience for a daylong hearing on the tariff proposal – that trade barriers in other countries need to be addressed, but not through tariffs.
That approach, they said, would lead to retaliation and increase the price of parts and components necessary in a global supply chain. Blunt also noted that while American automakers use far more U.S. and North American components than foreign automakers doing business in the U.S., Detroit automakers still rely on many international suppliers or suppliers that rely on international business.
But as a long list of opponents lined up to oppose the proposal, a representative of the UAW spoke in favor of the investigation and potential tariffs, saying trade has hurt American workers, driving jobs into low-wage countries such as Mexico and China in recent decades.
“It’s our hope the Trump administration will take targeted measures to protect domestic manufacturing,” said Jennifer Kelly, director of the UAW’s research department, adding that she understood that broad tariffs or quotas “could cause harm.”