Shawn Fain, UAW president, applauds Trump auto tariffs, says they will bring back jobs to U.S.

The head of the United Auto Workers Union said Sunday that President Trump’s tariffs on foreign cars and auto parts could persuade automakers to reopen factories and create jobs in the United States.

UAW President Shawn Fain said 2,000 auto workers at Warren Truck Assembly lost their jobs last year after Stellantis shifted the Ram 1500 Classic production from Michigan to Mexico.

“They could shift that work back in very short order and be producing Ram trucks right back there and put those people back to work,” Mr. Fain said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

He pointed out that 75% of the Volkswagen cars sold in North America are produced in Mexico.

“They could bring work back in very short order,” he said. “In a situation where they need to build a new plant, yeah, that’s going to take a couple years, but there is plenty of opportunity for these companies to do the right thing and bring work back here overnight, just as quick as they shifted out of here.”

Mr. Trump plans to impose 25% tariffs on foreign automobiles to encourage car companies to manufacture more in the United States.

Mr. Fain has been a vocal critic of Mr. Trump in the past. At the Democratic National Convention, he called Mr. Trump a “scab” and criticized him for allowing car plants to close during his first term in office.

He also slammed Mr. Trump’s decision last week to end collective bargaining with federal labor unions in agencies with national security missions across the federal government.

However, he has also sided with Mr. Trump against NAFTA and other free-trade deals and applauded the Republican’s push to slap tariffs on imports as a way to beef up domestic manufacturing and bring jobs back to the United States.

“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 worker,” Mr. Fain said Sunday. “The American working class people have been left behind for decades, and they’re sick of it.”