25% tariff on medium- and heavy-duty trucks entering US

Well, you have the right handle. We used to say that upon jumping off the cliff into the water,,,,, one thing for sure, writers/comedians will have plenty to write about in the future., the ones trying to make a living, not so much,

 

Starting November 1st, our trucks are getting a 25% attitude adjustment. They’ll cost more just for showing up from overseas. Time to tell your wallet to hang on tight!

 

Quality worsened when freightliners started being made in mexico.

 

Be intresting to see how this plays out long term. Short term class 8 trucks manufactured and assembled here are not going to change much/at all in terms of price. And a goodly percentage of trucks from paccar navistar and freightliner and even volvo are assembled here already. It will also depend on how the tax is applied.

Will it be a flat "if its shipped in on a boat its taxed" tax or a "if truck is made from more then X% of parts not made in usa its taxed" or will it be a every part on the truck not made in the USA is taxed 25% for example. It will influence how unions and manufacturers respond to it as well as price. Further it does somewhat open up the market to potentially new manufacturers both truck and part wise who may be able to get a foot in the door. Not likely but we will see.

Not going to lie though this one concerns me somewhat. I was planning/hopeing to buy a new international in the next year or two now that i dont have a truck that explodes every day week....but with the looseing emissions regulations we may be moving back to a time where a rebuild makes more sense then a whole new rig as well. Though i can also see how long term this can help bring prices down.

As for the smaller vans and box trucks this is going to be a huge blow. A LOT of the class B trucks i see are imports because they are just flat out cheaper and/or better then domestic units in a lot of cases sometimes both. So that is going to spike prices a good deal in that market.

 

Most of the reasoning for this is because they want it made here in USA for NS. Noticed what happened when Covid hit and hardly anyone could get parts?

I don't think it will be an issue for Trucks assembled here in the states. Volvo just opened up a new plant so I am not worried at all myself. I haven't heard anyone from Dealer say a word on this about raising prices. If anything it will let them keep same price instead of coming down vs slowed demand or give them the excuse anyways. Marketing will try and make a buck one way or another off of this spin is my guess.

 

Oh im not saying its a bad thing, and thats what i got from it as well hence my comment on the brands that are made here not altering in price much. Im just concerned long term that scummy manufacturers like paccar and the unions behind them (or over them depending) are going to do the same thing they did via covid and heavily inflate prices while shrugging and saying "cant be helped".

But it will also depend on how the tax is applied as well in how your going to see these companys react. Though like i said the ones who are really going to get shafted will be the smaller class B trucks. A LOT of those are the izzus hinus mercs and so on. So that is the market that is going to get shafted.

 

Paccar manufactures their medium duty trucks in Canada and Mexico. Supposedly that will be shifting to the Renton WA plant once KW is finished building the W900.

 

That percentage isn’t picked by accident. It’s the percentage point these manufacturers, who have taken jobs and deported them to foreign countries to manufacturer cheaper would have to reconsider. It falls in line with where a CEO might make the determination that it is in fact cheaper to manufacturer his truck in the USA providing jobs for Americans. The question, they will be asking is it these tariffs will last long term or if they plan to just ride it out. If the tariffs hold, long-term, you can almost count on those jobs coming back.