In a major win for UAW members who build heavy trucks at Mack, Daimler, Navistar, Volvo, and more, the Trump administration has announced a 25 percent tariff on imported heavy trucks, after a massive grassroots lobbying campaign by UAW members and leaders.
“For decades, heavy truck makers have rushed to kill good blue-collar jobs from Allentown, Pennsylvania, to Gastonia, North Carolina, in order to pay poverty wages abroad while Wall Street makes a killing. That ends November 1st,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “Our members lobbied and mobilized to save these communities, and made their voices heard in Washington, DC. We have pushed for action like this for decades, and we congratulate President Trump for delivering for heavy truck workers everywhere. Let’s keep going and rewrite our broken trade rules.”
A new video, Made In The Valley, tells the story of UAW Local 677 in the Lehigh Valley—how the USMCA gutted the communities that built the American heavy truck industry, and how workers fought back to save their jobs and community.
“Mack, Daimler, Navistar, Volvo — we built these companies,” said Dave Durgin, President of the UAW Bus, Engine, and Truck Council. “These executives have tried to run away from us and our families just to pay somebody $3-4 an hour to build six-figure trucks, and pocket the profits. We aren’t asking for the world. We’re saying if you want to sell your trucks in the U.S., you need to make your trucks in the U.S., at a good union wage like we’ve won at the UAW. We’re glad to see action being taken to support domestic manufacturing and good union jobs.”
The victory in the heavy truck industry is the latest blow to the so-called “free trade” system that has devastated blue collar America, from NAFTA to the USMCA. In 2026, the entire USMCA is up for review, and the UAW is pushing for a trade deal that puts the working class first.
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