ICYMI: At Hearing, Warren Criticizes Trump’s Use of Tariffs to Benefit Big Tech, Cost U.S. Manufacturing Jobs, Urges Stronger Worker Protections in USMCA Review

ICYMI: At Hearing, Warren Criticizes Trump's Use of Tariffs to Benefit Big Tech, Cost U.S. Manufacturing Jobs, Urges Stronger Worker Protections in USMCA Review

Warren: "Instead of going to bat for these billionaire companies, Donald Trump should be using our leverage in these trade negotiations to improve conditions for American workers."

Video of Exchange (YouTube)

Washington, D.C. - At a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called on the Trump Administration to use the upcoming joint review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to strengthen the agreement's protections for American workers and consumers-rather than as an opportunity to secure giveaways for corporations and billionaires. President Trump has said that his across-the-board tariffs would create "millions and millions of new manufacturing jobs" and restore U.S. manufacturing to its former glory. Instead, the United States has lost over 70,000 manufacturing jobs over the last year.

Trump's chaotic, across-the-board tariffs are not targeted at building up strategic sectors. Instead, he's using them to build economic leverage that he uses to secure giveaways for billionaire corporations and Big Tech-rather than American workers and consumers. Just recently, the Trump Administration announced it would be willing to reduce its tariffs on European steel-tariffs theoretically designed to boost U.S. steel manufacturing jobs-in exchange for the E.U. weakening its Big Tech regulations.

Senator Warren questioned AFL-CIO Trade Specialist Eric Gottwald about whether Trump's tariffs have resulted in manufacturing jobs returning to U.S. workers. Mr. Gottwald testified that the across-the-board tariffs have not led to widespread reshoring of manufacturing and instead contributed to an estimated loss of 70,000 manufacturing jobs.

Senator Warren argued that, instead of using our leverage in the USMCA review to do Big Tech's bidding, we should strengthen the USMCAto ensure American workers are not forced to compete with workers in countries that fail to uphold basic labor standards. The senator pointed to USMCA's rapid response enforcement mechanism (RRM), a provision that allows countries to implement tariffs on specific facilities for labor violations. Mr. Gottwald testified that RRM is "an incredible advance in labor enforcement." He recommended expanding its scope to cover occupational safety, health protections, and anti-discrimination safeguards, while ensuring the mechanism maintains its rapid nature, as delays in arbitration have limited its effectiveness.

Senator Warren concluded the hearing by urging the Trump Administration to use the USMCA review to secure stronger labor standards rather than prioritize corporate interests: "Instead of going to bat for these billionaire companies, Donald Trump should be using our leverage in these trade negotiations to improve conditions for American workers."

Transcript: The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement: Evaluating North American Competitiveness
Senate Finance Committee
February 12, 2026

Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, President Trump campaigned for office on a promise to, quote, "lower costs on day one"-those were his words-and now here we are, it's a year later, and the cost of groceries is up, the cost of utilities is up, the cost to build a home is up, healthcare premiums are skyrocketing. Trump also promised to create "millions and millions of new manufacturing jobs," and he also promised that his tariffs would bring factories "roaring back."

So, here we are, a year later, and we've lost manufacturing jobs. And look, I believe in tariffs as a tool, but Trump's reckless across-the-board tariffs aren't aimed at building up strategic sectors, and to the extent they've created leverage with our trading partners, he's frittered it away doing favors for giant multinational corporations, not helping out American workers. So today, we're talking about how the US should approach renegotiation of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the successor to NAFTA, but based on the last year, I am worried that the administration will not use US leverage to negotiate on behalf of American workers.

Mr. Gottwald, you are a trade expert with the AFL-CIO. Are Trump's across-the-board tariffs bringing back manufacturing jobs to the US?

Mr. Eric Gottwald: Thank you for the question, Senator. The short answer is no. The tariffs that he imposed in April, these Liberation Day across-the-board tariffs, we haven't seen the reshoring of manufacturing jobs due to those. And the latest data, year over year, we've lost 70,000 manufacturing jobs.

Senator Warren: So, we've lost 70,000 manufacturing jobs over the last year of Trump's presidency?

Mr. Gottwald: Correct.

Senator Warren: You know, I have to say, I wish it were surprising, but it's not when you see how Trump is using tariffs as leverage in talks with trading partners. And here's an example: Trump hiked tariffs on European steel. Okay, I get that. Allegedly, it was going to be to boost US steel manufacturing, but then his administration said, oh, they would roll back those steel tariffs if the EU weakened its laws regulating Big Tech. Now, mind you, the European laws are common-sense regulations. They're about consumer protection and privacy and breaking up monopolies.

Mr. Gottwald, when Trump said he'd be willing to reduce tariffs on steel imports if the EU repealed regulations on Big Tech, did that help American workers?

Mr. Gottwald: No.

Senator Warren: And that's just one example. So, again and again, Trump has slapped on tariffs, hiking prices that Americans pay, and then turned around and turned some of them off because some billionaire CEO called or made a donation and wanted some tariff relief. And now, the USMCA is scheduled to expire in July, meaning we have real leverage. If the US is going to sign back on, we need to tighten the rules so American workers aren't competing with workers in countries that treat their workers like dirt and trash the environment as well. One way to do that would be to strengthen the USMCA rapid response enforcement mechanism that lets us put tariffs on specific facilities when they violate collective bargaining laws.

Mr. Gottwald, how could the US use our leverage to improve this tool and actually help workers?

Mr. Gottwald: The rapid response mechanism has been an incredible advance in labor enforcement and trade agreements. It's not perfect, and we could make it better. Here's some ideas. One, we could not just address-currently, it's focused on freedom of association and collective bargaining, two very important fundamental worker rights, but we could expand that to other worker rights. Think about occupational safety and health, the right to be free from discrimination, and other things that affect the competitive balance. So, we could broaden the scope of rights affected. The other thing we can do is make sure the mechanism is delivering on time. The rapid part of it-at times we've seen when cases go to arbitration under the mechanism, they've dragged on a little too long. So, we'd like to explore ways to keep it rapid.

Senator Warren: I appreciate that. You know, look, right now, Big Tech is paying millions to lobby for more giveaways in the USMCA, including provisions that can make it harder for the US government to be able to protect American citizens misuse of data. Instead of going to bat for these billionaire companies, Donald Trump should be using our leverage in these trade negotiations to improve conditions for American workers. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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