WASHINGTON, April 1, 2025 – Brian Bryant, International President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), representing 600,000 workers, and David Chartrand, IAM Canadian General Vice President, today issued a strong rebuke of President Trump’s tariffs, warning of severe economic consequences and job losses across the United States and Canada:
“President Trump’s scatter-shot tariffs are a direct assault on American and Canadian workers. They will destabilize critical sectors like aerospace and manufacturing, jeopardizing hundreds of thousands of jobs and undermining national security.
“These tariffs will not bring our jobs home. They will raise prices on everything. They will wreck our supply chains on both sides of the border. And they will put our members’ jobs at risk.
“For decades, we have witnessed the erosion of millions of well-paying, high-skilled U.S. and Canadian jobs as corporations outsourced production to countries with lax labor standards. The administration’s trade policies will accelerate this decline, outsourcing thousands of IAM Union aerospace and defense jobs into low-wage positions.
“We cannot stand idly by while reckless policies destroy our supply chains, destabilize economies, and imperil the livelihoods of tens of thousands of workers, including over 100,000 aerospace workers across both nations. This administration’s isolationist approach ignores the interconnected nature of the U.S. and Canadian economies and national security.
“Our Union continues to emphasize the urgent need for a collaborative and strategic approach to tariffs. This approach must involve government, business, and labor unions and develop a comprehensive strategy that strengthens and expands critical sectors in the U.S. and Canada.
“Workers must be part of the solution to ensure that trade policies benefit our communities, not multinational corporations seeking to exploit cheap labor abroad.
“The IAM Union pledges to fight against these harmful tariffs, vowing to prevent a repeat of past trade failures that resulted in widespread economic devastation and increased risks to national security.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers is one of North America’s largest and most diverse industrial trade unions, representing approximately 600,000 active and retired members in the aerospace, defense, airlines, railroad, transit, healthcare, automotive, and other industries.
