The European Union’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S. boats is scheduled to increase, up to 50 percent, on June 1, a move that will cut even deeper into U.S. exports to that market.
The current tariff is 25 percent. The National Marine Manufacturers Association says that since the tariff went into effect in 2018, U.S. boat exports to the EU have fallen by 42 percent. The EU is the U.S. boating industry’s second largest international market, after Canada.
Earlier this year, the Biden Administration and the EU agreed to a four-month pause on tariffs related to World Trade Organization aircraft disputes, but the agreement did not address U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum or the EU’s 25 percent tariff on boats from the U.S.
The NMMA said it applauded the progress the Biden Administration and the EU have made to normalize trade relations, but it said it was disappointed that there had not been an agreement to end the retaliatory tariff on U.S. boats. The NMMA said it would continue to work with Congress and the Administration to end the tariffs.
The EU started the boat tariffs three years ago in retaliation for the Trump Administration’s tariff on steel and aluminum. The EU consists of 27 countries; the United Kingdom withdrew from the union in January, 2020. Read more:
