In an email distributed to customers on July 28, Thomas DiPippo, national sales manager, GSP-North America, warned that the Office of the United States Trade Representative’s exclusion on Section 301 tariff for CV Axles is scheduled to potentially expire on Aug. 7, 2020.
“To date, GSP has not been given any direction if this will result in an import tariff being levied on CV Axles,” DiPippo said. “Regrettably, in the event the current tariff exclusions are rescinded GSP will take price action to pass this tariff to the market. GSP will impose the U.S. Government’s tariff immediately on landed shipments for Direct Import orders but will allow for a 30-day grace period for LTL shipments.”
New LTL pricing is scheduled to take effect Sept. 7.
Outside of the recent trade victory for the aftermarket regarding special terms in the USMCA agreement for aftermarket parts, Ann Wilson, senior vice president, Government Affairs for MEMA, says tariffs are the next biggest issue the aftermarket should keep a close eye on.
“I think the thing for the aftermarket we have to pay a lot of attention to is what’s going on with our relationships with China,” Wilson said. “We are in an atmosphere where we are looking at trade agreements in a very different light than we ever have before when most of our manufacturers are global companies.” (Hear more from Wilson in our upcoming August issue of AMN magazine.)
