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Ahead of President Joe Biden’s trip to Europe for the U.S.-E.U. summit, NMMA reiterated its call for the Biden administration to reach an agreement with their European counterparts that would end Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs and subsequent retaliatory tariffs on American-made boats.

NMMA joined more than 30 trade associations urging the administration to end the Section 232 tariffs, noting, “These tariffs continue to hurt small, family-owned businesses and the communities in which they built their companies, while fracturing relations with overseas trading partners and spurring a frenzy of retaliatory trade measures against both related and unrelated industries.”

Additionally, NMMA, the International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA), and the European Boating Industry (EBI) joined more than 100 U.S. and E.U. organizations calling on the Biden Administration and E.U. to secure an agreement that would permanently remove the E.U. retaliatory tariffs on U.S. boats.

President Biden and key administration officials are traveling to Brussels next week to meet with E.U. officials to discuss a path forward to end the Section 232 tariff issue, as well as other trade disputes. Last month, the U.S. and E.U. reached an agreement to suspend the 100 percent tariff increase on certain U.S. boats until December 1, 2021, to provide time for a comprehensive agreement that would permanently reverse the 25 percent retaliatory tariff on U.S. boats entering Europe.

NMMA continues meeting with key lawmakers and administration officials, highlighting the impact on the industry and urging officials to reach an agreement as quickly as possible that would ultimately remove the EU’s retaliatory tariffs.

For more information, please contact NMMA director of federal government affairs, Clay Crabtree at [email protected].