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The European Union (EU) announced it would allow the suspended 2018 retaliatory tariffs – which includes recreational boats – to lapse on March 31. The announcement comes in response to the Trump administration's reinstated Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that went into effect last week.

In the EU’s press release, it noted that Europe would “restore” the 2018 retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. and take immediate effect on April 1. While the list of products subject to the additional tariffs – which ranges from 25% to 50% for recreational boats – can be found here, the Harmonized Tariff Codes from 2018 have since been updated in 2022.

For vessels in transit or preparing for shipping ahead of April 1, the guidance includes:

• “[P]roducts listed in the Annexes to that Regulation for which an import license with an exemption from or a reduction of duty has been issued prior to the date of entry into force of that Regulation shall not be subject to additional duty.
• That Regulation also provides that products listed in the Annexes to that Regulation for which the importers can prove that they have been exported from the United States to the Union prior to the date on which an additional duty is applied with respect to that product shall not be subject to the additional duty.”

Unlike in 2018, so far, the United Kingdom has indicated that it will not issue similar retaliatory tariffs at this time.

NMMA members who have questions related to the EU retaliatory tariffs or potential impacts of tariffs on their business are encouraged to reach out to Clay Crabtree, NMMA’s Senior Director of Public Policy, at [email protected].