Donald Trump Ramps Up Threat of Tariff War if Elected President

Donald Trump has vowed to introduce tough tariffs on countries like China if he is elected president in order to “bring the automobile industry back” to the U.S.

In a post on Truth Social, the former president and frontrunner in the 2024 GOP primary contest announced his plans to boost the automobile industry while hitting out at Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers union which has recently endorsed Joe Biden.

Trump said he watched Fain’s appearance on CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday—during which the union leader took several swipes at the Republican while explaining why he is backing Biden for re-election—and accused Fain of selling the U.S. automobile industry “right into the big, powerful, hands of China,” including pushing for an increase in building of electric vehicles.

Trump said that if he re-enters the White House following November’s election, that he would introduce tariffs which would require China and other foreign countries to have plants to build vehicles in the U.S. This follows reports that Trump is weighing up the possibility of imposing a 60 percent tariff on all Chinese imports, a move which economists have described as potentially “immensely damaging” and which could trigger a trade war.

“I had the great privilege of watching Shawn Fain, the President of the United Auto Workers, this morning on DeFace the Nation. He is a real ‘STIFF’ who is selling the Automobile Industry right into the big, powerful, hands of China,” Trump wrote on social media.

“55% of the industry has already left the U.S., and the rest will soon be following if I am not elected President. He bought into Biden’s ‘vision’ of all Electric Vehicles, which require far fewer workers to make each car but, more importantly, are not wanted in large numbers by the consumer, and will ALL be made in China. I want them to be made in the USA, every type of car, and would require China, and other countries, through TARIFFS, or otherwise, to build plants here, with our workers,” Trump added.

“Now they are building in Mexico, the biggest plants anywhere, and selling their cars, Tariff Free, into the good ol’ USA. Shawn Fain doesn’t understand this or have a clue. Get rid of this dope & vote for DJT. I will bring the Automobile Industry back to our Country.”

Fain’s and Trump’s offices have been contacted for comment via email.

U.S. factories assembled vehicles at annualized rate of 10.8 million vehicles in December 2023, according to U.S. Federal Reserve data. The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2023 that the U.S. auto industry was entering “one of its biggest factory-building booms in years” with some $33 billion in new investment pledged as the industry switches to electric vehicles.

Trump has already vowed to introduce tougher tariffs and trade agreements with China if elected president as part of his “America First” agenda, including potentially downgrading the trade status of the east Asian powerhouse.

“If India, China, or any other country hits us with a 100 or 200 percent tariff on American-made goods, we will hit them with the same exact tariff,” Trump said in June 2023 while detailing his Trump Reciprocal Trade Act, which would pressure foreign countries to drop their own tariffs on the U.S. “In other words, 100 percent is 100 percent. If they charge US, we charge them—an eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff, same exact amount.”

According to The Washington Post, citing unnamed sources, Trump has discussed with advisers the possibility of imposing a flat 60 percent tariff on all Chinese imports if he is elected president, as well as a 10 percent tariff on nearly all $3 trillion in annual imports from all countries around the world.

“The 2018 to 2019 trade war was immensely damaging, and this would go so far beyond that it’s hard to even compare to that,” Erica York, senior economist at the Tax Foundation think tank that opposes the tariffs, told The Post. “This threatens to upend and fragment global trade to an extent we haven’t seen in centuries.”

The World Trade Organization found that previous tariffs imposed on Chinese goods during Trump’s term in office broke global trading rules.

Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics think tank, also called Trump’s trade proposals for China a “lunacy” which would ultimately hurt U.S. businesses.

“If a Trump administration were to put up much higher tariffs on imports from China, American companies would lose most of their market share in both China and many third countries,” Posen said.