Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) warned the United Auto Workers (UAW) currently striking against General Motors (GM), Ford, and Stellantis that President Joe Biden’s Electric Vehicle (EV) mandates are “explicitly designed” to offshore their jobs.
In an op-ed for the Toledo Blade, Vance defended auto workers striking against the Big Three for better wages amid inflation and commitments that their jobs will not be eliminated as Biden pushes through an EV agenda likely to cut jobs and slash wages.
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“These are the facts: China dominates the global supply chain for electric vehicles — especially for critical minerals and batteries,” Vance wrote, continuing:
While an electric vehicle may bear the logo of Ford, Chevy, or Chrysler, its core components were probably made in China with Chinese labor and Chinese materials. Two of the Big Three automakers are losing massive amounts of money on electric vehicles. Ford, for example, loses $32,000 on every EV they sell. These losses lead to lower wages for workers, fewer auto jobs being available, and higher prices for consumers. [Emphasis added]
Likewise, Vance said auto workers should look to GM’s Lordstown Assembly plant, which CEO Mary Barra shuttered in 2019. While the former plant once employed 15,000 union workers, it now employs far fewer workers at far lower wages to produce EV batteries.
Pro-free trade politicians like Biden, Vance wrote, helped globalize the American economy decades ago which, in return, eliminated millions of American jobs and closed tens of thousands of manufacturing plants. Now, those same politicians are hoping to bet it all on a green energy agenda largely controlled by China-based supply chains, according to Vance.
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“Today, the same politicians who pursued an aggressive agenda of trade liberalization that crushed American industry are making the exact same mistake, but under the banner of climate alarmism,” Vance wrote, continuing:
What proponents of this premature push to electric vehicles fail to appreciate is how much their agenda decreases the bargaining power of Ohio auto workers. The more the Big Three’s business model relies on global supply chains and non-union labor, the less the UAW can effectively push for higher wages. Their leverage decreases every time a consumer buys a car made without an Ohio worker, and yet the policies of the Biden administration are explicitly designed to shift the auto industry offshore. [Emphasis added]
Striking auto workers, Vance penned, should use their leverage with Biden to bring the administration’s EV mandates to a screeching halt.
“By pivoting away from the Biden administration’s destructive electric vehicle policies, we can achieve higher wages, greater job security, and a brighter future for auto workers,” Vance added. “It’s time to move past this failed experiment and empower America’s auto industry to thrive again.”
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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