Posted on Thursday, March 27, 2025
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by Alan Jamison
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1 Comments
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President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Wednesday imposing a 25% tariff on all imported automobiles and parts in an effort to revive American manufacturing and potentially create thousands of new jobs.
The president explained in the proclamation that his first administration investigated the issue in 2019 and found that “automobiles and certain automobile parts are being imported into the United States in such quantities and under such circumstances as to threaten to impair the national security of the United States.” He stated that COVID-19 impacted the supply chain since then and caused significantly more damage to automobile manufacturing in America.
According to a White House fact sheet, “In 1985, American-owned facilities in the United States manufactured 11.0 million automobiles, representing 97% of overall domestic (American- and foreign-owned) production of automobiles.” However, by 2024, half of the 16 million vehicles Americans purchased were imports. Even among those vehicles labeled “made in America,” an estimated 60% of parts were imported.
Employment for American facilities that manufacture automobile parts has also substantially declined in recent years. There were 286,000 fewer jobs in this field last year than in 2000. America’s trade deficit for automobile parts has increased to $93.5 billion.
While Democrats and liberal economists have insisted that tariffs will be disastrous for the U.S. economy, the White house cited former Biden Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who praised tariffs last year as a means to protect American jobs. “I don’t believe that American consumers will see any meaningful increase in the prices that they face,” Yellen said, adding that tariffs will “ultimately result in lower prices.”
The United Auto Workers (UAW) union publicly endorsed Trump’s tariffs as a boon for the auto industry, agreeing with the administration that thousands of jobs will return to America.
“With these tariffs, thousands of good-paying blue-collar auto jobs could be brought back to working-class communities across the United States within a matter of months, simply by adding additional shifts or lines in a number of underutilized auto plants,” the UAW stated. “Right now, thousands of autoworkers are laid off at Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis following recent decisions by auto executives to ship jobs to Mexico.”
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley joined Fox New to discuss the new tariff and explained that Americans will benefit and see greater wages.
“It’s going to mean more auto jobs,” he said. “It’s going to mean higher wages. I mean, people in my state – in the state of Missouri – are cheering this, particularly our auto workers. And Jesse, we’ve got a bunch of them. They are tired of getting ripped off by Mexico. They are tired of getting ripped off by all these foreign countries that have trade deals with us, Jesse. They don’t follow them. They don’t play by the rules. We need a fair deal. And that’s what President Trump is going to get.”
Trump is expected to announce additional reciprocal tariffs on April 2 on countries within the European Union. These tariffs will reportedly be “as high as 20 or 25 percent” and add to already existing tariffs. The president intends to use tariffs to bring other nations to the negotiating table to create new and more fair trade deals.
In an effort to prevent more reciprocal tariffs from the U.S., India is considering cutting tariffs on $23 billion of American exports. The two countries are negotiating a deal where India would possibly reduce tariffs “on 55% of U.S. goods it imports that are now subject to tariffs ranging from 5% to 30%.”
Trump’s tariff agenda has already seen noteworthy successes in the realm of foreign policy, with tariff threats forcing Mexico and Canada to commit more resources to border security. In another standoff with Colombia, Trump’s tariff threat forced the South American nation to accept deported illegal aliens.
This latest round of auto tariffs marks the most significant escalation yet in Trump’s efforts to promote made-in-America products and domestic manufacturing.
Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.
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