(DCNF)—Union workers in the automobile and steel industry said Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s tariffs on foreign imports is a “very positive thing” for their industries.
Trump announced that the U.S. will be imposing reciprocal tariffs, including a 25% tax on imported automobiles, on nations that have placed taxes on American goods in hopes of returning manufacturing jobs to the U.S. In response, James Benson Jr., an auto worker from Michigan, and Indiana steelworker Matt Novak both expressed optimism about their industries due to the tariffs.
“[I’m] very excited about it,” Novak told Fox Business host Elizabeth MacDonald on “The Evening Edit.” “And a lot of my brother and sister steelworkers are very excited about it because we saw what it did in 2018. It definitely made a difference in the market, it held back all the influx of everything coming over from everywhere else. It saved a lot of jobs. It did a lot of good for us. As an American, just as a country, it did a lot, but for the steel industry, it definitely helped us.”
Benson said that himself and others in his industry struggled to find work under Democrat leadership because of the number of auto plants that shut down. He credited Trump with returning auto jobs to the U.S. by enacting tougher policies on foreign countries.
“I have 26 years at 8 plants because a lot of those plants closed, and a lot of those plants closed under Democratic leadership. If you can remember, [the North American Trade Agreement] was originally crafted by the Bush family and then turned around, [former President Bill] Clinton signed it into law and it was the biggest bloodbath we ever had in losing our jobs and we never recovered from it.” Benson said. “And Trump is the first time I’ve ever seen a reverse of that and actually seen jobs coming back into our country and better than 65% of the membership support him and probably closer up to 70% now because they’re starting to see results from that.”
Trump said that the tariff on all vehicles and automobile parts imported to the U.S. on Wednesday are meant to protect the auto industry, which he said had “been undermined by excessive imports.”
The automobile worker scoffed at the Democrats’ criticisms of the tariffs, saying that jobs will return to the U.S. in “even bigger numbers” than it did during Trump’s first term. Novak argued that the tariffs will allow for more job creation in the U.S. because there will be less products being imported into the U.S. from overseas.
During the president’s announcement, Auto Workers for Trump leader Brian Pannebecker said union workers in the automobile industry, including Union Auto Workers members, support the president’s tariffs. Novak agreed, arguing that the tariffs will stop the massive influx of auto parts being imported from foreign countries and thus allow for more American manufacturing.
“It increases everything with the steel industry, the aluminum industry, with everybody that applies everything for every vehicle that every American owns, it’s gonna increase,” Novak continued. “It’s gonna create more jobs, it’s gonna be much better. Tax revenue, everything is going to be so much better for all of us and I think it’s a very positive thing.”
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