The Elkhart area’s RV makers are breathing a sigh of relief as the Trump administration has agreed to pause new 25% tariffs on Canadian imports.
Instead of being productive, Jason Rano spent much of his day Monday stressing. As vice president of government affairs at the RV Industry Association, Rano was scrambling to assess the potential damage from tariffs Trump threatened Saturday on imports from Canada and Mexico.
Elkhart’s RV makers import parts and materials from both countries, so the tariffs would drive up those costs, but Rano says they’d feel even more pain from retaliatory tariffs on RVs that Canada imports.
"Last year the U.S. RV industry shipped nearly 30,000 RVs to Canada, with an estimated value well north of a billion dollars," Rano says. "So that's a significant number of units and quite a bit of economic impact that could be subject to tariffs by the Canadian government."
The tariffs would have taken effect at 12:01 Tuesday morning but were averted when the countries negotiated a 30-day delay. Rano says the trade group will keep urging the administration and Congress to avoid the tariffs while still strengthening border security.
