The United States and European Union (EU) announced a deal to remove steel and aluminium tariffs, resulting in the full removal of the 25% retaliatory tariffs imposed on American-made boats and engines entering the EU.
Since the tariffs were implemented in 2018, the NMMA team has dedicated significant attention and resources to resolve this issue as Afloat reported previously here
The suspension of the retaliatory tariffs comes as welcome news for American boat builders, who have long been subject to these punitive tariffs.
However, a lot of the American brands available in Ireland were from EU manufacturing plants so were never affected by the retaliatory tariffs but some popular American built boats in Ireland, including some of the J-boat range, will now be available tariff-free.
“Since their first days in office, President Biden and Ambassador Tai have been committed to resolving the U.S., EU trade dispute that has harmed the American boat building industry, and today we applaud and thank them for delivering on this promise,” said Frank Hugelmeyer, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association. “America’s boat builders were collateral damage of this tit-for-tat trade conflict for more than three years, resulting in a 50% reduction in exports to our industry’s second-largest international market and the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.
“This agreement is a momentous victory for the recreational boating industry – which represents the largest segment of the $788 billion outdoor recreation industry, supporting nearly 700,000 U.S. jobs and over 35,000 businesses. Thanks to the leadership of President Biden and his administration, we are no longer saddled with a structural disadvantage to international competitors.”
