“This is a frustration point for us, and we continue to work with our coalition partners and policy makers in Washington on these issues, to try and impress upon them that these tariff policies – whether it’s the steel or the China import policies – have a negative impact on jobs within our industry.”
— Charlie Souhrada Vice President of Regulatory and Technical Affairs North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM)
belief that these tariffs support working individuals.” Addressing that specific point, Souhrada said that while NAFEM recognizes the importance of labor unions, the tariffs themselves do not support working Americans. “Instead, in many ways and from a big-picture perspective, they impact more families downstream than meets the eye,” he explained. For example, when the Section 232 steel tariffs were initially put in place, it was to protect the steel industry, which effectively represents about 180,000 jobs in the United States.
Those employment numbers rise as you move downstream, where companies that use the metals represent roughly 6.5 million jobs. “It’s very difficult to understand or swallow the argument that this is a worker- centric policy,” Souhrada said, “when it seems to the contrary.” Based on historical practice, Souhrada expects a continued
14 FEDA News & Views
“surgical removal of tariffs with certain trading partners,” and sees that as a positive sign. He pointed to the Biden administration’s tariff rate quotes on certain types of metals as one step in this direction. Tariff rate quotas (TRQs) permit a specified quantity of imported merchandise to enter the U.S. at a reduced rate of duty during the quota period.
Often last in line for available metals, NAFEM members can’t generally take advantage of TRQs. “This is a frustration point for us, and we continue to work with our coalition partners and policy makers in Washington on these issues,” Souhrada said, “to try and impress upon them that these tariff policies – whether it’s the steel or the China import policies – have a negative impact on jobs within our industry.”
“We Need Some Reform Here” At this point, Murphy is also unclear
on whether the Biden administration will provide any relief from the tariffs in
the near future. And while the previous administration did provide numerous exclusions from tariffs for a variety of products, this one has done so “for an even smaller sliver of the total array of affected goods,” Murphy pointed out. “We are hopeful that at least
there will be a new exclusion process introduced under which companies will be able to petition and make the case for tariff relief on specific products,” said Murphy, who has heard from several companies that are paying tariffs on parts, components and other inputs that they import, while their competitors are importing finished products duty- free.
This is happening because the components fall under the Section 301 or 232 tariff rules, but the finished products may not be subject to such duties. “It’s pretty crazy when you think about it, but that’s what happens with tariffs and protectionism,” Murphy said. “You create winners and losers, which is why we need some reform here.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
