Trump keeps his word, delivers big win for autoworkers, union leader says
American autoworkers who backed President Donald Trump in his 2024 campaign believe he’s delivering on his promise to bring back manufacturing dominance.
"I personally had no doubt. The man keeps his word. He did it during his first term, and he's doing it here in his second. And we're very happy for it," the Auto Workers for Trump founder Brian Pannebecker said on "The Evening Edit" Thursday.
"As a matter of fact, his support built every election and got stronger," he added.
Trump on Wednesday announced new tariffs on auto imports during a press conference at the White House, saying he will impose a 25% tariff on all imported autos, up from 2.5% previously. He indicated the auto tariffs will take effect on April 2, when his reciprocal tariff plans are also expected to be announced.
WHEN TO START CAR SHOPPING, DOING REPAIRS AS AUTO TARIFFS LOOM
Trump, who views tariffs as a way to bring in tax revenue to finance his plans for tax cuts while spurring a revitalization of domestic manufacturing, previously suggested that he could impose auto tariffs that run "in the neighborhood of 25%."
Pannebecker argued the tariffs are a much better result than what Trump’s primary campaign opponent pitched for the auto industry.
"She [Kamala Harris] wanted to ban the internal combustion engine," he said. "That means, basically, get rid of the auto industry and turn it over to China… now even Shawn Fain, the socialist president of the UAW, has gotten on board. So he's late to the game. But we're glad to see him supporting Donald Trump."
The United Auto Workers’ (UAW) union praised Trump’s tariff decision in a written statement Wednesday, saying: "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."
Carmaker factories and the workers who help run them are seemingly optimistic about their own ability to shift and adapt to political and technological evolution, according to the union leader.
"If necessary, they can build a new plant in under a year. The tooling now is pretty much interchangeable," Pannebecker said. "They change over to new models on the fly. So a lot of the technology allows them to do that very quickly, and they have the excess capacity to do it."
"When you hear people like [Ford’s] Jim Farley say, ‘Well, you know, we don't want to have to do that, and it would be really costly,’ those are just excuses and bluster," he further criticized.
"But the fact remains," Pannebecker continued, "if they're going to be using robotics in the new technology and automation, we want it done on this side of the border, not south of the border in Mexico. So we'll take whatever jobs they have. Detroit is still the Motor City, and we want every auto job, every vehicle that's sold in the United States, we want to build it."
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
He also reflected on how Trump kept a personal promise, after Pannebecker allegedly brought forth information from a high-level whistleblower at Chrysler-owned Stellantis who opposed a plan to move production to Mexico after the current UAW contract expires in 2027.
"A whistleblower came to me and asked me to get that information to President Trump. He was a very high [up] vice president at Stellantis," he said. "I announced that at a rally on stage with President Trump, and he told me after that rally, 'Brian, I'm not going to allow that to happen.' And he has kept his promise."
FOX Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.