UAW President Shawn Fain on Why He Supports Tariffs
In an interview, United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain argues that the era of “free-trade” deals like NAFTA has been a disaster for the US working class and that smart tariffs can help bring back good auto jobs.
United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain speaks to autoworkers at the Community Complex Building on November 9, 2023, in Belvidere, Illinois. (Scott Olson / Getty Images)
In the past week, Donald Trump’s ambitious yet erratic announcements on tariffs have roiled financial markets and provoked a flurry of panicked commentary in the media. But qualified support for Trump’s trade policy has come from what is in some ways an unexpected corner — the United Auto Workers (UAW), whose president, Shawn Fain, campaigned fiercely against Trump in the 2024 election.
Though the UAW has criticized Trump’s attacks on federal workers and the National Labor Relations Board as well as other administration policies, the union has been supportive of the president’s attempts to use tariffs to bring back domestic manufacturing jobs. In an interview with David Sirota for the Lever Time podcast, UAW president Fain spoke about the destructive effects that “free-trade” deals like NAFTA have had on American autoworkers and unions and how tariffs might help fix the damage. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
The Effects of NAFTA
David Sirota
Make your case about how exactly NAFTA and other free-trade deals harmed autoworkers and those other manufacturing jobs. It dovetails with what’s on [the shirt you’re wearing] right now, [which says] “Ross Perot was right.” Why was Ross Perot right?
Shawn Fain
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