Canada holds off on tariffing US-made boats – for now
NMMA continues engaging government officials in both Canada and US to keep marine sector out of the escalating trade war
In the latest round of tariff tit-for-tat in US President Donald Trump’s escalating global trade war, Canada unleashed a new round of retaliatory tariffs against the US, which, for now at least, do not include measures targeting US-made boats.
The new levies, scheduled to come into effect at 12:01 am on April 9, instead target the auto sector with 25% taxes on US-made vehicles that are not fully compliant with content levels spelled out in the Canada-US-Mexico (CUSMA) trade agreement.
Canada has so far resisted implementing new tariffs on US-made boats, although marine products have been identified as a potential target for retaliatory measures
US-made boats do, however, remain on a more extensive list of US-made goods identified for further retaliation. The North American leisure marine industry is highly integrated between the two countries, and the vast majority of completed boats sold in Canada – indeed, upwards of 90% – are ultimately assembled in US factories.
“This is a resilient, high-value industry built on cross-border collaboration, advanced manufacturing, and integrated supply chains,” said NMMA Canada executive director, Marie-France MacKinnon. “As trade dynamics continue to evolve, there is a real opportunity for Canada and the US to work together to keep marine businesses on both sides of the border globally competitive – but this requires domestic policy coherence as well as trade barrier protections. Ottawa must not punish the very sectors it seeks to defend on the international stage.”
NMMA Canada executive director Marie-France MacKinnon says policy coherence as well as trade barrier protections, are essential to maintaining the prosperity of North America’s recreational boating industry
In its ongoing engagement with government officials on both sides of the world’s longest undefended border, NMMA says it is encouraging elected members and political staffers in both countries to continue direct engagement and work toward securing lasting tariff exemptions for the leisure marine sector while supporting a stable, rules-based trade framework.
Despite the restraint shown so far by Canadian officials, boat, engine and marine accessory prices in both Canada and the US are expected to be driven higher in the wake of newly announced US tariffs on goods imported from China, which now collectively amount to a 104% increase since US Donald Trump introduced his radical new trade policies. Retaliatory tariffs subsequently introduced by China represent an 84% tax on all imports of US-made goods.