Update on the Trump Administration’s proposed 25% tariff on all imported vehicles and parts:

On Thursday, June 19, Mark Hyman testified before a panel comprised of US Department of Commerce members who were accepting testimony related to the Trump Administration’s proposed 25% tariff on all imported automobiles and automobile parts, as a matter of national security. Speaking alongside Mark were several representatives of the automobile industry, representatives of major parts suppliers, and those from other industries that support the supply chain, all of which were speaking out in vehement opposition to this proposal.

Acting as a representative of the classic, collector and special-interest vehicle business, Mark’s testimony focused on the impacts such tariffs would have on our segment of the industry. Not surprisingly, it seemed that those in charge of drafting this legislation had little to no idea that vintage automobiles in America comprise a nearly $180 billion industry, which would be negatively and severely impacted should such proposed tariffs become law.

Mark believes that the Commerce Department representatives were interested and receptive to his testimony and that of others. Our hope is that his efforts and the efforts of all of those enthusiasts, collectors, and business owners who took the time to submit public comments will be heard, and that an exception will be granted to allow vintage vehicles to continue to be imported at the current import duty of 2.5%, and avoid the proposed tenfold increase.

A number of major news outlets and industry publications were on hand to report on this matter, and Mark was quoted in several articles including Bloomberg, CNN Money, and Forbes, among others, links to each are found below.

It is our profound desire that this proposed legislation be heavily revised or scrapped altogether. The potential for damage to virtually every segment of the automobile industry as a whole, including new, used, and vintage vehicles is massive. We hope that the administration listens to the voice of reason in this matter.

Mark and the whole team at Hyman Ltd. will continue to fight for our rights as members of this industry and as vintage automobile lovers ourselves. It has been an honor to represent you, our clients, friends and fellow enthusiasts and we will continue to stay abreast of the situation as it evolves.

Bloomberg News:
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/…/trump-s-25-tariff-could-stop-…

Forbes:
https://www.forbes.com/…/collateral-damage-vintage-car-co…/…

Sports Car Market:
https://mailchi.mp/…/breaking-news-scmer-mark-hyman-testifi…

Hagerty Online:
https://www.hagerty.com/…/classic-car-experts-urge-commerce…

A Hawaiian Television Station:
http://www.kitv.com/…/the-classic-car-industry-could-be-hur…

CNN Money:
https://money.cnn.com/…/au…/collector-car-tariffs/index.html

 

33 Responses to “Update on the Trump Administration’s proposed 25% tariff on all imported vehicles and parts:”

  1. Eric

    Driving a FACEL VEGA is a pleasure and a honour
    Its Chrysler typhoon v8 and its glamorous pictures of Ava Gardner in front of hers speak for it.
    Would I drive it for 25% more?
    At a moi t of time one has to set limits…

    Reply
  2. Rocky Grady

    Thanks for taking the time to educate the people that don’t have a clue. It’s scary to think these rule-makers did not do their homework before considering screwing with a $180 Billion industry (we’re talking real money here). Great to have you on the side of truth, justice and the American way! Keep up the good work. Our Best… Rocky, Henry and all our four wheeled children (especially Emma the 327/3 EMW)

    Reply
    • jack triplett

      “these rule makers”: It’s not the Commerce Dept, it’s the President who is pushing these tarrifs. And it’s not just the collector car market, it’s all the supply chains that are adversely affected. Too often, people are blaming the wrong culprits, it’s the policitians who make the policy, blame them.

      Reply
  3. Jaime I Del Valle

    Why when J sell a car to EU or any where, my customer have to pay 30,40 or over 100 o/o on taxes? And only 2.7 o/o when the come to ? Jaime I

    Reply
  4. Larry burns

    Mark we all rooting for you. As a member of Restoration Garage and an individual car collector. We need your representation. Also this is the first time I have seen you I a suit!!!!! Regards. Larry Burns

    Reply
  5. Joseph T

    The 25% tax will destroy the classic car hobby and all the companies that make parts for our restorations as many are made overseas , they should limit the age of cars to 25 years or older to be left alone

    Reply
  6. Richard Collier

    Lost in all this is the classic car industry is actually good for national security. To wit, it employs thousands of superb craftspeople across multiple disciplines:
    fitters, machinists and tool makers, panel beaters, instrument restorers and so on. In a global crisis, these skill would be available to US industry as one of the highest quality work forces in the nation. Putting these thousands of exquisite craftspersons out of work would cause their skill to degrade or force them into other careers making it less likely of their availability in time of need.

    Reply
  7. Bob Kavanagh

    Hello Mark,
    Congratulations on your involvement.
    This tariff would certainly impact the hobby severely.
    It must be scrapped.

    Reply
  8. James Schild

    Thanks for the report and for your efforts. It is of course, not surprising that out government has little idea about anything that goes in any part of the small business arena in our country.

    Reply
  9. John Brickner

    “Thank You” Mark for leading this fight. We appreciate your efforts. John & Corrine Brickner

    Reply
  10. D. DEAN RENWICK

    Thank you Mark for taking the bull by the horns on this issue. As President of Canada’s appraisal industry self-regulating organization – the Professional Association of Vehicle Evaluators Inc. (P.A.V.E.) I know many of our clients have great concern for the impact of the U.S. tariff on the sale of our vehicles.

    Reply
  11. Marco Makaus

    Thank you Mr. Hyman and all those who fight for this.
    The proposed tariffs would have a dramatic impact on our (European) side of the market and the industry as well.
    Long may we be able to share our Automobiles, our experiences and knowledge, and may trenches remain a thing of the past.

    Reply
  12. Ed Walton

    Mark – thank you for taking the time and effort to express the views of car enthusiasts. Many of us are not at the high levels of collecting, but still appreciate the efforts of those with means. Thank you for all of us!

    Reply
  13. Peter Kengeter

    Thank you Mark? for your time and energy is in pursuing this very important issue. I too am very concerned about this and have written to my congress persons and am waiting a reply. Just this past weekend the Rolls-Royce owners club met at a picnic and discussed our concerns about this tariff as well. We are all on board to have it iNOT happen.
    Again thank you for your time sincerely Pete Kengeter

    Reply
  14. Juan Alberto Molinari

    Dear Mark I encourage you to keep fighting against this intention to charge 25% taxes on Classic Cars import duties.
    Our experience in Argentina when the classic importation duties started at 22% teach Us that it wasn’t the end , it was the beginning of more and more governments restrictions such as forcing us to request an import license that could take months or years before being released or NOT to the importer. In your case the amount of money that they will collect with the 25% means nothing against the USA economy.
    In our case was more a political issue than an increase of the collected money. I hope the USA do not cross the same line that perverse populism did in these latitudes. Good Luck my friend, USA collectors and your local political representatives should help and support you in this crusade .

    Reply
  15. Dave Stephens

    Another “Thank You Mark ” from another Classic Car enthusiast. We need you more than ever to be our voice.

    Reply
  16. Dean A. Zwicker

    Thank you for bringing this important issue to those in Washington.

    Reply
  17. Sylvain Fréchette

    Dear Mark,
    Here in Québec,we cannot understand why such tarrif can be justified on something as unique an already produced since decades like a Classic car. This is truly not a job saver solution and it will definitively affect this industry and the hobby. Thank you for taking care of this mater.

    Reply
  18. Alan Blum

    Mark, Thanks for taking the time to explain the impact of this legislation to the lawmakers. When the government makes hasty decisions, they often don’t understand all of the implications of their actions. Hopefully your voice of reason will help our lawmakers see the light and guide them to a logical position that doesn’t harm our hobby and for many, their livelihood.

    Reply
  19. Randy Forbes

    Thank you Mark!
    While I’m scarcely a blip on the whole collector car scene, I would like to extend my gratitude for speaking on behalf of all of us.
    While Trump’s announcement concerned me, I didn’t think there was anything I could do about it; I’m glad you felt otherwise!
    Randy Forbes
    Sports Cars Plus, LLC
    Manatee County, Florida

    Reply
  20. Simon Quinlan

    Mark well done, from somebody who just had enough money to buy a wonderful Etype. The added tax wouldn’t have affected me because I’m British but I would hate if an American was unable to fulfil a lifelong ambition in the same way.

    Reply
  21. Rich Myers

    You old Bull dog….go get them Mark !!! Seriously this should be in the category “WHAT WERE THEY THINKING”

    Reply
  22. David Harrison

    Dear Sir
    Cars from the 1890s to the present day have been my enduring hobby for almost sixty years. I have produced components for many cars , bought and sold cars from and to the USA and have recently dispatched one to Pebble beach. Examples of my work can be seen in American museums as well as on the road. To add 25% to the price of anything is self defeating, it will lead to loss of jobs, loss of tax revenue, loss of skills, loss of foreign income ( I’m spending two weeks in the USA in August) and above all the pleasures of the hobby, the International friendships and good relations between nations. Such folly must be challenged at all levels. I have not had the pleasure of doing business with Mark Hyman but his presence is known to me as he markets his cars by email on a daily basis! Save us from the lunacy of politics. Free trade I say ! !

    Reply
  23. David Bruner

    Thanks Mark for all your effort. Even tho my classic car is an Auburn, my every day driver is a Saab and parts for it are not cheep a 25% tax will really make them expensive.. This is more trump-Hitler stupidity

    Reply
  24. Don Hull

    Mark Hyman: thanks for your involvement in the issue of TARIFFS. The attached message was sent to SEMA.
    To the U.S. Department of Commerce —

    Proposed Tariffs on Imported Automobiles, Parts and Accessories

    Hopefully, Pres. Trump is using the threat of tariffs as a negotiating ploy. If so, he has a chance at improving the business climate for American business because of the outlandish tariffs that are imposed by FOREIGN governments on AMERICAN exports. Trump appears to want some “parity” in tariffs by all traders. This makes sense, even though the IDEAL—the proper and moral tariff— is NONE AT ALL. For ANYBODY.

    Tariffs are “taxes.” They hurt economic activity. They hobble growth. Although Governments gain revenue and more political power from tariffs, the overall result is LESS INCOME for both buyers and sellers as the money is diverted to the State.

    What may be the WORST aspect of tariffs is that they DISCOURAGE ENTREPRENEURIAL activity and discourage RISK TAKING. This means— No new inventions. No improvements in old inventions. No technological Progress. (See Cuba or North Korea)

    Although the automobile was NOT INVENTED in America, it WAS DEVELOPED in America to serve literally every citizen. (In most foreign countries, the automobile is owned primarily by the upper crust. Everybody else rides a bicycle.)

    Since 1895, some 2,500 entrepreneurs have started to build cars. Most failed. But many did not and those WINNERS have given us the widest choice of auto transportation in the world.

    Nothing is more symbolic of “America” than the automobile. It represents FREEDOM. Not just the freedom to TRAVEL—but the freedom to invent new products, the entrepreneurial freedom to take risks and build what a voluntary customer wants to buy; and the political freedom to follow one’s dream.

    But nearly all of the 2,500 car companies are now DEAD. You can’t call the home office to buy a generator for a 1936 Gesundeflenker. So where does the generator come from???

    It comes from the multi-million Community of Enthusiasts in the hundreds of Classic-Collector CAR CLUBS who are in the Preservation-Restoration hobby.

    The hobbyists find the parts at swap meets; recycling yards; senior citizen farmers who rebuild generators in the barn; or some other enterprising SMALL BUSINESS. The preservation-resto hobby is not for sissies!

    Fortunately, The insurance companies already recognize 25 years as the beginning status of a collector or classic car and offer REDUCED RATES for them. Some State DMVs offer reduced rates for “collector” and “historical” license plates as well as design special plates to promote the hobby.

    So now we need to get the federal Government on-board.

    The proposed tariffs on automobiles and auto products, would hammer the Old Car Hobby good and hard. Tariffs/taxes DESTROY. They do not create or invent or even PROTECT their alleged beneficiaries. And their effects on people of modest means is more devastating than on the affluent. I believe Trump knows this.

    Most old-car hobbyists are people of modest means. Some make a living at it, but most cannot, or do not. They do it for the Love, not the Money.

    Let’s try something NEW.

    Instead of PUNISHING people with the stick of tariffs, how about an INCENTIVE CARROT such as a Tax CREDIT on old cars and parts! Let’s do something that produces CASH FLOW for everyone.

    IDEA: Let’s build on the insurance companies’ standard of 25 years as the dividing line and match that with a 25% Tax CREDIT on cars and parts of 25 years or more. Call the legislation “HB 25/25.” Easy to memorize.

    It would encourage current hobbyists to expand their participation; encourage new and younger people to join the hobby; reward the hobbyist for spending his own money to preserve our American cultural icons; honor American history and the auto industry, and incentivize new business start-ups. More people could make a living in the industry.

    It would even have something for the “greens”—a tax CREDIT, would motivate NON-hobbyists to scour the countryside and fence-rows in search of old car parts, thus “cleaning up” the environment. A winner for everyone.

    Write your Congressman!

    Don Hull
    President
    Packards International Motor Car Club
    More than a Club; a Lifestyle
    302 French St
    Santa Ana, CA 92701
    info@packardsinternational.com

    Reply
  25. Daniel Wilson

    Mark: Good push on the Commerce Dept. However, Ways and Means Chairman Brady (R-TX) is talking about another tax measure in the Fall. That presents an opportunity to insert legislative language to roll back the 25% hit on classic cars and classic car parts. Chairman Brady and all other members of the Ways & Means Committee need to hear from the Classic and Vintage Car community, urging them to make changes to the 25% tariff tax in their upcoming bill. Thanks. Dan Wilson

    Reply
  26. EDGAR KLUGE

    The 25% tariff tax and any other taxes in the future on hobby automobiles must be stopped !!! Or the collector car business will be dead.

    Reply

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