The Association of Equipment Manufacturers has co-signed a letter with dozens of other manufacturing groups and associations urging the Trump Administration not to move forward with its latest round of $200 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods. The letter was mailed to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer last week.
“This extreme use of tariffs hurts our nation’s access to global markets and threatens many of the 1.3 million good-paying equipment manufacturing jobs our industry supports,” AEM President Dennis Slater says in a statement issued Monday.
“To make matters worse, U.S. farmers are losing out at a time when their incomes are on the decline,” he says. “It’s clear everyone loses in a trade war. This administration should be looking for ways to improve our trade relationship with China, not doubling down on tactics that only lead to continued retaliatory actions.”
Dennis Slater, AEM presidentA press release from AEM notes that combining the $200 billion in additional tariffs on Chinese goods, formally announced by the White House on Monday, with the $50 billion already in place, would make up for about half of the dollar amount in goods imported to the U.S. from China just last year.
Leaders of equipment manufacturing companies have spoken out in response to the Trump administration’s trade policies throughout 2018.
To date, AEM notes, $50 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods have already been put into effect by the Trump administration, including $34 billion worth of goods that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection started to collect duties in July, as outlined in a published list made available by the federal register, the release says.
In August another $16 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese goods went into effect after a public notice and comment process, including a public hearing.
China had already retaliated by imposing $34 billion of tariffs on U.S. goods, including agricultural commodities with numerous agricultural goods. This comes, as AEM points out, “at a time when farmers and ranchers are struggling due to a slump in income.”
Trade and trade policy will be the focus as AEM co-hosts its third I Make America Town Hall Tour stop from Terex AWP‘s Genie Showroom, in Redmond, Washington, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. CT on Thursday, September 20.
The town hall will be live-streamed and feature an expert panel discussing how tariffs and similar trade policy tactics impact the equipment manufacturing industry.
