Tariff details continue to dominate industry news - MarineBusinessWorld North America newsletter
by Peter Rendle 12 Mar 2025 13:00 PDT
The all-new Highfield ADV 7 © Highfield Boats
During his Joint Address to Congress, President Trump reinforced his administration's commitment to protecting American manufacturing and enforcing stronger trade policies.
Earlier this week, the White House released its 2025 Trade Policy Agenda, outlining plans to pursue reciprocal tariffs, address trade imbalances, and revisit duties on key materials like steel and aluminum.
On March 6, the Trump administration announced a one-month delay on new tariffs for imports from Canada and Mexico covered under the USMCA trade agreement. The tariffs are now scheduled to take effect April 2. The NMMA continues to push for long-term solutions that support fair trade without imposing undue burdens on American manufacturers. NMMA remains engaged with policymakers to ensure that any new trade measures consider the unique needs of the recreational marine industry and the millions of Americans who depend on it.
As a strong American industry, recreational boating supports 812,000 U.S. jobs and contributes $230 billion annually to the economy. Our industry depends on affordable raw materials and access to global markets, and past trade actions have demonstrated the risks of broad-based tariffs that raise costs and invite retaliation from key trading partners.
Amid this news, NMMA has released its Monthly Recreational Boating Industry Data Summary report, offering a comprehensive analysis of recreational boating powerboat unit sales and key economic indicators through December 2024. While these monthly NMMA reports cover a rolling 12-month period, this latest version for December offers a full look at calendar year 2024, confirming estimates for retail and wholesale sales declines.
The American Sports Fishing Association has announced that, given the rapid developments on trade, tariffs and commerce from the Trump administration, the ASA has released their new trade and commerce webpage. This site will serve as a central location for the most up-to-date trade information coming out of the White House that impacts the sportfishing industry. Most notably, some new tariffs will not go into effect on fishing reels, reel parts or landing nets on March 12, but rather "on or after a date to be certified in the Federal Register by the Secretary of Commerce."
Meanwhile in Europe, industry leaders have joined forces to revolutionize boat manufacturing with a circular economy model, so that boats can now be built using recycled materials. This pioneering collaboration to achieve circularity in boat production, launched in Western France, offers a model for composite sustainability.
And locally, Highfield Boats USA, the leading supplier of rigid inflatable boats in America, announces five new dealer partners now representing its aluminum- and fiberglass-hull RIB tenders and sport boats. They include Champion Honda in Hicksville, N.Y.; Emerald Coast RIB Boats, headquartered in Fort Walton Beach, Fla.; Gage Marine in Williams Bay, Wisc.; McShane Yacht Sales, headquartered in Marshfield, Mass., and Oak Hill Marina in Arnolds Park, Ia.
Marine Business World reports on industry news across the whole spectrum of the marine industry and across North America and is updated daily. If you have an item of news that you want to share, email me at the address below.
Peter Rendle - peter.rendle@worldmarine.media