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.