OPINION:
Ask anyone in farm country how their year is going, and they will immediately tell you about high costs. Diesel and fertilizer prices are up, export markets have shrunk and tariffs have driven up the cost of machinery.
That strain is showing up in rural communities nationwide and farmers want to know that Washington understands their pain.
President Trump hears that message loud and clear and is working to give farm country the relief it needs. His recently announced $8 billion in farm aid will help farmers manage the high costs squeezing their operations.
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It builds on earlier steps, including his executive order on dyed diesel and his June cuts to Section 232 rates on designated agricultural machinery.
Farmers appreciate the break, but relief will take time. Congress is out of session until after the elections and any aid it passes would take months to reach producers.
But there is something the president can do right away: Provide tariff relief on the ATVs and UTVs (utility terrain vehicles) and their replacement parts.
On my family’s farm in Southern Idaho, we use these vehicles to care for livestock, check on irrigation systems and transport equipment. When one wears out, there is rarely a cheaper substitute that does the same job.
Right now, Section 232 duties apply to the full customs value of the vehicle, not just its metal content, and we estimate that adds as much as $5,000 to a single vehicle’s cost. A tariff meant to strengthen domestic metals production was never meant to impose as a several-thousand-dollar penalty on a family farm.
The administration has already shown how this kind of relief can work. Mr. Trump set a 0% rate for certain imported parts used to build motorcycles in the U.S. and his June actions lowered the tariff rate on ATVs. But the relief did not include UTVs.
This is a step the president can take on his own. It needs no act from Congress and it would apply to the vehicles that help keep America fed. By fully and permanently removing Section 232 tariffs on working ATVs and UTVs, President Trump could lower costs for the rural Americans who rely on these vehicles and keep farms and ranches running.
TODD CRANNEY
Executive director, Save America’s Working Vehicles
Meridian, Idaho
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