Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Friday, April 11.
UAW President Shawn Fain said a couple of interesting things last night about his union’s political loyalties in the face of its support for President Donald Trump’s tariff policies on U.S. trading partners.
“We’re not aligning everything we do with the Trump administration,” he said during a Facebook Live presentation. “We don’t align with any politician or president. Our union has a clear North Star: the working class. The working class’ issues don’t change because someone has a ‘D’ or an ‘R’ next to their name. For decades, our union’s fought to end the free-trade disaster, and that was true under Republican administrations and Democrat administrations.
“Free trade has been the most harmful government policy of my entire work life, and most all of our entire work lives. We have to end this free-trade disaster, and we don’t care if it’s a Democrat or Republican who ends it.”
Sign up for Automotive News’ quick rundown every business afternoon of the top five stories of the day, along with the day’s market gainers and losers.
He added: “If you want to destroy our unions and our government and attack our members, we’re going to oppose you every step of the way. If you want to undo our broken, unfair trade system and raise the standard for factory workers, we’ll go to the mat to support that. Because we’re not Democrats and we’re not Republicans. We’re trade unionists.”
But to show the tightrope he walks between the UAW’s traditional Democratic allies (the union endorsed Kamala Harris for president in 2024) and pro-Trump tariff support, Fain also said: “Big picture, we support some use of tariffs on auto manufacturing and other similar industries. We don’t support the use of tariffs for political games about immigration or fentanyl. We do not support reckless or chaotic tariffs on all countries at crazy rates. We absolutely support, and have always supported, tariffs on the auto industry, on heavy truck and agricultural implements.”
A possible casualty of the UAW’s support of automotive tariffs? The lucrative profit-sharing checks UAW members receive from the Detroit 3 almost every year. Michigan economist Patrick Anderson on Thursday estimated what tariffs could cost UAW members if the levies remain in place.
“We estimate a decrease of at least $1,000 per eligible worker in the best-case scenario, and over $5,000 for workers at more affected automakers,” Anderson said in a statement. “For some automakers, with Stellantis being the most vulnerable at the current time, the effects of a prolonged tariff war could lead to operating losses that cause payouts to go to zero.”
This is a topic the UAW and Canada’s Unifor union have disagreed on for many years. Canadian auto workers eschew profit-sharing in favor of higher wages. That stance gains credibility should UAW profit-sharing checks shrink or disappear next year.
Live updates on tariffs
How automotive stocks are performing since tariff announcement. Click here for real time figures
In other news today, Ford Motor Co. is going to continue importing Lincoln Nautilus crossovers from China, at least for now, according to this story by Michael Martinez. Price increases are possible, of course.
The Nautilus, redesigned for the 2024 model year, became Lincoln’s first China-built import to the U.S., and last year it was the brand’s top seller in its home market. As of April 9, it’s subject to a 125 percent tariff Trump placed on Chinese-made goods, including autos, but Lincoln President Dianne Craig said there’s no near-term plans to alter production.
In a tragic development out of New York, Siemens AG senior executive Agustin Escobar was among six people killed when a sightseeing helicopter crashed into the Hudson River in New York on April 10, Bloomberg reported. Escobar, 49, had boarded the helicopter with his wife and three children, who also died along with the pilot. At Siemens, he was responsible for rail infrastructure for the manufacturer’s mobility division.
Siemens, a longtime player in the automotive supply chain, grew its footprint in the industry last month when it completed its $10 billion acquisition of Michigan automotive engineering firm Altair Engineering Inc.
Finally, there was a potential development in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case for electric truck maker Nikola Corp. EV maker Lucid Group Inc. wants to acquire Nikola’s operations in Arizona and take on about 300 employees. The deal will be subject to court approval.
That’s it for now. Have a great weekend!
If you want to view this story in your browser, click here.
— Philip Nussel, online editor
