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WBUR: Rep. Debbie Dingell Says Trump's Auto Tariff Plan is 'Not That Simple'

A Michigan Democrat said tariffs could help bring auto manufacturing jobs back to the United States, but criticized how President Trump was enacting them.

The Trump administration announced last week that new 25% tariffs on imported cars, light trucks and auto parts would take effect this week. The announcement has been embraced by the United Auto Workers union but criticized by economists who say the levies could raise car prices by thousands of dollars.

“I am somebody that believes tariffs are a tool in the toolbox, but the way that the president has done it has been a meat ax in some ways, or it was a month ago" Rep. Debbie Dingell said in an interview with Here & Now's Anthony Brooks. "People are still trying to understand exactly what he did last week and what the impact is."

6 questions with Rep. Debbie Dingell

President Trump says tariffs will ignite American manufacturing, and that if other countries charge Americans, the United States will charge them. Is it that simple? 

“It's not that simple.

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"But we got to give the manufacturers time to adjust production schedules. If you're going to build a new plant, build a new plant in this country, but if everything went right, that would take 2 1/2 to 3 years, and when's the last time everything went right for anybody, on anything."

Is your concern that tariffs imposed this quickly and at this level could be counterproductive?

"That's correct. And I also think it's time to stop treating Canada and Mexico the same way.

"A part will go back and forth over the border, both sides, Mexico and Canada, three, four, five times. Canada has unions. It doesn't subsidize its product. It has environmental laws, occupational safety laws. Mexico has just begun to enforce labor laws and it's tricky at best, and we don't play on a level playing field even with USMCA [United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement] and it's time to renegotiate USMCA."

President Trump told NBC that he “couldn’t care less” if foreign automakers raise prices because people will start buying American-made cars. What's your response?

“Look, I remember the ‘70s when the domestic auto industry lost a decade because Japan had product that the American consumer wanted: It had a smaller car when gasoline prices went up.

"Now, many of these foreign manufacturers are located in this country are providing jobs. They're not union jobs, and quite frankly, many of their parts are still being imported from their countries, which is why trying to understand what the president did last week matters. But I do want to see cars made in America by American workers with American parts, so it's complicated."

Shawn Fain, the president of the United Auto Workers union, supports President Trump's announcement. Fain endorsed Kamala Harris for president. What does it tell you that Fain supports Trump's tariffs policy.

"I'm going to be very blunt with you. Nobody believed me, especially in my party, when I said that Donald Trump would win the presidency in 2016. You'll remember that and they all thought I was crazy.

"I said it for one reason: It was trade. Democrats did a terrible job on trade. I was in and out of union halls. I'm still in and out of union halls, and I hear two things when I'm in union halls. I do hear people worried about what's going to happen to everyday costs, but I also hear finally somebody's fighting for us.

"We have been fighting for them, but they see somebody fighting for them."

Many Democrats are critical of Trump's tariffs. What's your message to Democratic leaders about how they should talk about tariffs and the economy?

“I'm pretty blunt in our caucus that we've got to stop just being anti-tariff. You know, I was in a Kroger grocery store yesterday, and two men were standing together, and the first one stopped me and said, 'I'm a Republican, and I voted for Trump, and you've got to save us.' And the other man who said, 'I voted for Biden, but Democrats didn't deliver, and you got to figure out how you're going to deliver.' I think that therein right there lies our country: They're frustrated with everybody.

Is it a question of figuring out how to balance short-term pain with long-term gain?

"That is what we're talking about here. Look, I would like to think that there wouldn't be any short-term pain, but there may be.

"But if you bring manufacturing back to this country, you create more jobs, you bring the supply. One of the biggest things we need to bring back is the supply chain. The supply chain is really located overseas, and you see it when it goes back and forth over the border. So, I think we have to manage short-term pain and ensure long-term gain is there."