While Democrats are largely silent over President Donald Trump’s proposed 25% tariffs on foreign automobiles imported into the U.S., the unions that put those same Democrats in office are hailing the move as a “victory for autoworkers.”

“We applaud the Trump administration for stepping up to end the free trade disaster that has devastated working class communities for decades. 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,” UAW President Shawn Fain said Wednesday.

Trump announced Wednesday the U.S. will impose a 25% tariff on vehicles and auto parts imported into the U.S. starting on April 2, a move he said would raise between $600 billion and $1 trillion in revenue over the next two years, CBS News reports.

The decision is aimed at pressuring car manufacturers to produce vehicles in the U.S., which Trump argues will create jobs and opportunities for Americans, particularly in states like Michigan that fuel the auto industry.

“This will continue to spur growth like you haven’t seen before,” Trump said. “We’ll effectively be charging a 25% tariff. But if you build your car in the United States, there is no tariff.”

The proceeds from the tariffs, he said, “will be used to reduce debt greatly.”

“Basically, I view it as reducing taxes and reducing debt,” Trump said.

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The American Automotive Policy Council that represents the Big Three is on board with the plan.

“U.S. Automakers are committed to President Trump’s vision of increasing automotive production and jobs in the U.S. and will continue to work with the Administration on durable policies that help Americans,” organization President Matt Blunt said in a statement. “In particular, it is critical that tariffs are implemented in a way that avoids raising prices for consumers and that preserves the competitiveness of the integrated North American automotive sector that has been a key success of the President’s USMCA agreement.”

The UAW suggests the tariffs could result in “thousands of good-paying blue collar auto jobs” flooding back to more than a dozen underutilized auto plans across multiple states. The economic impact “would be enormous and have a cascading effect throughout communities from Michigan to Tennessee.”

The union representing  391,000 active members pointed to thousands of autoworkers laid off by Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis as the companies have shifted production to utilize cheaper labor in Mexico.

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“Across a dozen Big Three auto plants that have seen major declines, production has fallen by 2 million units per year in the past decade, while millions of vehicles sold here are made with low-wage, high-exploitation labor abroad,” according to the UAW.

“At Warren Truck Assembly Plant in Warren, Michigan, for example, over 1,000 autoworkers are laid off while the plant sits underutilized and $100,000 Stellantis trucks are built in Mexico for $3 an hour. These layoffs were announced less than six months ago and could be undone. Those jobs could be brought back to Michigan immediately with well-designed auto tariffs.”

Other Michigan plants that could benefit include Ford Flat Rock Assembly, Ford Michigan Assembly in Wayne, GM Lansing Grand River, GM Factory Zero in Detroit and Hamtramck, and Stellantis Jefferson North Assembly in Detroit, according to Bridge Michigan.

The UAW’s support for Trump’s tariffs is notable, as Fain backed Democrats during the 2024 election, despite his own admission that a majority of the union’s members backed Trump.

“Let me e clear about this: A majority of our members will not vote for President Biden,” Fain told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto the same day he endorsed Biden. “The majority of our members are going to vote their paychecks, they’re going to vote for an economy that works for them.”

On Wednesday, Fain said “the UAW and the working class in general couldn’t care less about party politics; working people expect leaders to work together to deliver results.

“The UAW has been clear: we will work with any politician, regardless of party, who is willing to reverse decades of working-class people going backwards in the most profitable times in our nation’s history,” he said. “These tariffs are a major step in the right direction for autoworkers and blue-collar communities across the country, and it is now on the automakers, from the Big Three to Volkswagen and beyond, to bring back good union jobs to the U.S.”

It’s a similar take shared by the Alliance for American Manufacturing.

“Auto production is the bedrock of a nation’s manufacturing ecosystem,” President Scott Paul posted to X, noting the U.S. imports more cars than almost every other country in the world combined. “We’ve seen it eroded in the US over the past four decades first by Asian imports then by NAFTA. A 25% tariff on auto imports isn’t the only way to spur more auto plants here, but is in my view necessary.”

Democrats, who have pushed back on other tariffs imposed by Trump, have been largely silent about the auto tariffs announced Wednesday, while industry observers predict prices for vehicles to increase in the short term.

At least one Michigan Democrat, however, believes the president’s plan could be a boon for the Great Lakes State.

“Tariffs, when applied strategically, are a valuable tool to support American manufacturing and competitiveness,” U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, told Bridge, urging patience for the plan to play out.

“We need to remember we must allow the auto companies and suppliers the time they need to adjust,” she said. “Production changes can’t take place overnight.”