It’s that time of year when millions of Americans take to our lakes, rivers, and oceans in one of the few products that is, more likely than not, made in America: Boats. The recreational boating industry has been a stalwart of the American manufacturing sector for many decades, supporting 650,000 American jobs and nearly 35,000 businesses nationwide. But, with the Trump administration’s recent — and constant — implementation of tariffs, American industries and their workers are at risk.
Our company, Correct Craft, manufactures boats and engines in six factories across the U.S. Our team of nearly 1,300 workers is proud that we build products in the U.S. that are desired around the world. While we import some materials for our boats, our company is a significant net exporter. It’s something we, and other marine manufacturers, are proud of: Great, American-made products.
The last few years have been great for our industry. And, thanks to President Trump’s historic tax reform, our outlook was even better.
Today, I am less optimistic. We have found ourselves in the crosshairs of a trade war, one that will drown out the effects of tax reform and risk our industry’s promising future, taking American workers and consumers down with it.
At the end of last year, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced it was considering tariffs on common alloy aluminum sheet imported from China. Following an investigation that wrapped up last month, the department levied multiple tariffs on Chinese aluminum sheet totaling 200 percent. This type of aluminum sheet is what’s used to manufacture an estimated 44 percent of new boats on the market: Aluminum fishing and pontoon boats.
At the same time, the administration imposed worldwide tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum. The 10 percent global aluminum tariff, plus the 200 percent tariff on Chinese aluminum sheet, means the tariff on the latter is more than 210 percent — that’s more than twice the next highest tariff.
These hard-and-fast tariffs are unfairly punishing manufacturers like Correct Craft, where we exclusively use U.S. aluminum, even though more than 90 percent of aluminum used in the U.S. by American boat makers is sourced from domestic mills. This is because the administration’s tariffs have distorted the global market, driving up the price of domestic aluminum by 20 to 30 percent. This is bad news for our company, our workers, and our industry.
Last month, continuing the escalation of a trade war, a 25 percent tariff on nearly $34 billion in Chinese products went into effect. A week later, the administration released an expanded list of an additional $200 billion in Chinese goods subject to new tariffs. The initial list includes about 300 different component parts used by the marine industry, such as propellers and navigational equipment.
Collectively, these three tariffs — 25 percent on Chinese marine products, 210 percent on Chinese aluminum sheet, and 10 and 25 percent on all aluminum and steel — have driven up costs across the board for our whole industry.
But that’s not the worst part. Our top trading partners, angered by the administration’s global tariffs on aluminum and steel, have responded by taking retaliatory actions against U.S. boats.
Canada, Mexico, and the European Union — which account for 69 percent of total recreational boating exports and the majority of Correct Craft’s foreign sales — have implemented retaliatory tariffs of 10 percent, 15 percent, and 25 percent respectively. These new tariffs are going to make it more difficult to sell boats around the world — and this puts the industry’s $1.8 billion in recreational boat and engine exports and the jobs of Americans in jeopardy.
Our deepest fears are already setting in. Distributors from around the globe are canceling orders at a concerning pace and we’re worried about the impact these canceled orders will have on our employees.
The boating industry is the only recreational industry being slapped with retaliatory tariffs by all three of those jurisdictions. Correct Craft, along with others, will do all we can to mitigate the damage, but there’s only so much we can do. We need our leaders to act and stop this senseless trade war before it’s too late.
Many Americans are understandably tired of longstanding and unfair trade agreements, and President Trump should be applauded for concentrating the world’s attention on the issue. However, his administration’s current trade policies of increasing protectionism are unfairly targeting U.S. manufacturing industries, and will cause lasting damage to U.S. businesses, jobs, and families.
I urge the administration to recognize these harmful impacts and instead focus on global trade to quickly seek negotiated trade agreements that will benefit Americans. The well-being of the men and women who work in our proud American manufacturing industry, and their families, are counting on it.
Bill Yeargin is CEO of Correct Craft, a marine industry company based in Orlando with six manufacturing plants around the U.S.
