Playing with fire?
Jan 14, 2025
Would it be playing with fire to raise the issue of tarrifs in your sales presentations at the boat shows this winter? The 60th Presidential Inauguration Ceremony is scheduled for January 20th, 2025 when President-Elect Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as President of the United States of America. It sounds like he will race ahead with legislation and Executive Orders on the very first day. The 67th Annual Toronto International Boat Show will open on January 18, 2025 at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place and our industry will be there and anxious to sell boats, especially the remaining new non-current models that are hanging around after the Covid boom-bust sales cycle.
Trump has threatened to levy 25% tariffs against products from both Canada and Mexico unless we make major strides against illegal immigration and increase border protection. As happened during the last Trump administration, tariffs were applied against Canadian products and Canada responded with strategic counter-veiling tariffs on important American products that were coming into Canada. This new tariff scenario will take a little time to unfold and a little longer for Canada to respond, especially given our present leadership situation. But would the threat of tariffs on new boats motivate some buyers to move quickly to secure their new boat before the prices rise?
I was proud to have been a part of the Canadian marine industry efforts to repeal the Luxury Tax on boats and although the Liberal government did bring it in, I do feel we were successful when we got the threshold raised to $250,000 from the initial $100,000. That would have been a disaster.
But what it tells me is that the government was not sensitive to our industry or the huge impact of the Luxury Tax. Without Prime Minister Trudeau (at some point) a future government should repeal that tax but would they? Would they consider the impact on the boat business of applying counter-veiling tariffs to US-made boats coming into Canada?
So, two points to consider here; just the threat of future tariffs might motivate people to buy now and the industry really needs those sales, on the other hand, we need to lobby hard against counter-veiling tariffs on US-made boats. Once again, it’s a stark reminder to support our industry associations and the critically important work they do on our behalf.
I hope to see you at the NMMA Canada Industry Breakfast at TIBS on January 21. We will have great presentations for you and there will be plenty to talk about!
Andy Adams – Editor
