Important 25% Tariffs on IMPORTED SNOWMOBILES begins TUESDAY.

[christopher]

Trump says 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports will start Tuesday, with ‘no room’ for delay​

President Donald Trump says “there’s no room left” for Mexico or Canada to avoid 25% tariffs on imports that will go into effect on Tuesday, sparking renewed fears of a North American trade war. U.S. stocks tumbled after Trump made the comments.

President Donald Trump talks during a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, at the White House, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, in Washington. (Carl Court/Pool via AP)

The flags of Mexico, Canada and the United States are shown near the Ambassador Bridge, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)


By ZEKE MILLER, JOSH BOAK and ROB GILLIES
Updated 3:23 PM MST, March 3, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that 25% taxes on imports from Mexico and Canada would start Tuesday, sparking renewed fears of a North American trade war that already showed signs of pushing up inflation and hindering growth.

“Tomorrow — tariffs 25% on Canada and 25% on Mexico. And that’ll start,” Trump told reporters in the Roosevelt Room. “They’re going to have to have a tariff.”

Trump has said the tariffs are to force the two U.S. neighbors to step up their fight against fentanyl trafficking and stop illegal immigration. But Trump has also indicated that he wants to eliminate the Americas’ trade imbalances as well and push more factories to relocate in the United States.

His comments quickly rattled the U.S. stock market, with the S&P 500 index down 2% in Monday afternoon trading. It’s a sign of the political and economic risks that Trump feels compelled to take, given the possibility of higher inflation and the possible demise of a decades-long trade partnership with Mexico and Canada as the tariffs would go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

Yet the Trump administration remains confident that tariffs are the best choice to boost U.S. manufacturing and attract foreign investment. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Monday that the computer chipmaker TSMC had expanded its investment in the United States because of the possibility of separate 25% tariffs.

In February, Trump put a 10% tariff on imports from China. He reemphasized Monday that the rate would be doubling to 20% on Tuesday.

Trump provided a one-month delay in February as both Mexico and Canada promised concessions. But Trump said Monday that there was “no room left for Mexico or for Canada” to avoid the steep new tariffs, which were also set to tax Canadian energy products such as oil and electricity at a lower 10% rate.

“If Trump is imposing tariffs, we are ready,” said Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly. “We are ready with $155 billion worth of tariffs and we’re ready with the first tranche of tariffs, which is $30 billion.”

Joly said Canada has a very strong border plan and explained that to Trump administration officials last week. She said the diplomatic efforts are continuing. She spoke after Trump made his comments Tuesday.

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum went into Monday waiting to see what Trump would say.

“It’s a decision that depends on the United States government, on the United States president,” Sheinbaum said ahead of Trump’s statement. “So whatever his decision is, we will make our decisions and there is a plan, there is unity in Mexico.”

Both countries have tried to show action in response to Trump’s concerns. Mexico sent 10,000 National Guard troops to their shared border to crack down on drug trafficking and illegal immigration. Canada named a fentanyl czar, even though smuggling of the drug from Canada into the United States appears to be relatively modest.

As late as Sunday, it remained unclear what choice Trump would make on tariff rates. Lutnick told Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that the decision was “fluid.”

“He’s sort of thinking about right now how exactly he wants to play it with Mexico and Canada,” Lutnick said. “And that is a fluid situation. There are going to be tariffs on Tuesday on Mexico and Canada. Exactly what they are, we’re going to leave that for the president and his team to negotiate.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Mexico has also offered to place 20% taxes on all imports from China as part of talks with the United States.

Bessent told CBS News on Sunday that China would “eat” the cost of the tariffs, instead of passing them along to the U.S. businesses and consumers that import their products in the form of higher prices.

But companies ranging from Ford to Walmart have warned about the negative impact that tariffs could create for their businesses. Similarly, multiple analyses by the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the Yale University Budget Lab suggest that an average family could face price increases of more than $1,000.

“It’s going to have a very disruptive effect on businesses, in terms of their supply chains as well as their ability to conduct their business operations effectively,” said Eswar Prasad, an economist at Cornell University. “There are going to be inflationary impacts that are going to be disruptive impacts.”

Democratic were quick to critize the announced tariffs for making inflation worse and alienating allies.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said voters in last year’s election were primarily upset by inflation and “now Donald Trump is making it worse.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., predicted the cost of fertilizer will go up for farmers in her state.

“This is a crazy way to handle our allies, right? He’s literally reaching out to Russia at the same time that he’s putting a 25% tariff on Canadian goods,” she said.

Trump also plans to roll out what he calls “reciprocal” tariffs in April that would match the rate charged by other countries, including any subsidies and and value added taxes charged by those countries.

The U.S. president has already announced the removal of exemptions from his 2018 tariffs on steel and aluminum, in addition to tariffs on autos, computer chips, copper and pharmaceutical drugs.

Trump says 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian imports will start Tuesday, with 'no room' for delay

President Donald Trump says 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada will start Tuesday, sparking renewed fears of a North American trade war.

apnews.com

 

[christopher]

Gotta Wonder how this will impact SPRING SNOW CHECK sled prices????

"IF" the tariffs stick I can't imagine that Ski-Doo would deliver a new sled next fall without slapping on a +25% Surcharge for delivery...

Seriously speaking, would ANYONE take delivery of a new sled that had a +25% Surcharge on it???

 

[christopher]

U.S. tariffs turn Canadian Ski-Doo maker BRP’s Mexico production hub into a liability​

Nicolas Van Praet



New tariffs stand to increase the price U.S. consumers pay for BRP vehicles at dealerships, hurting demand and potentially putting BRP at a disadvantage against competitors that have big manufacturing footprints in the United States. Workers place the decal on their ski-doo on the assembly line making snowmobiles at BRP Inc., in Valcourt, Que., on Oct. 8, 2020.Christinne Muschi/The Globe and Mail

When Canadian Ski-Doo and Sea-Doo maker BRP Inc. began shifting manufacturing to Mexico nearly 20 years ago, it looked like a good move.

The Spanish-speaking country has a large pool of young, reliable and low-cost workers and provides easy proximity to the U.S. market, where 60 per cent of BRP’s powersports vehicle output is sold. And bonus: It’s on the same continent. The company has since expanded capacity in Mexico several times.

Now however, U.S. President Donald Trump has hammered the import of goods from Mexico and Canada with a 25-per-cent tariff. The White House said in a document Saturday that the levies are necessary to stop “the extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs” from the those countries into the United States.

This puts BRP chief executive officer José Boisjoli in a bind: His biggest production hub is suddenly a liability.

“I don’t think we’ve ever seen a scenario like this before,” National Bank analyst Cameron Doerksen said in an interview, highlighting the challenge ahead. Essentially all of BRP’s manufacturing is outside the United States, with about 75 per cent of units produced in Mexico and the rest in Canada and Europe.

The tariffs have exposed the hazards of concentrating production in one country and laid bare the fragility of a North American trade pact now at the mercy of a president’s political impulses. Mr. Doerksen said Valcourt, Que.-based BRP is the corporation “most at risk” from tariffs among the transportation and industrial companies he researches.

New tariffs stand to increase the price U.S. consumers pay for BRP vehicles at dealerships, hurting demand and potentially putting BRP at a disadvantage against competitors that have big manufacturing footprints in the United States. BRP’s top rival, Polaris Inc. is headquartered in Medina, Minn., and has a large U.S. production base while Japan’s Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki also have U.S. assembly plants.

“If it costs me more and there’s going to be tariffs and taxes on it, then yeah, the price of the vehicles is going to go up,” said Gilbert Gurrola, general manager of Cowtown Power Sports in Fort Worth, Tex., which sells BRP and Polaris models. “As a dealer, I’m not going to eat it.”

Tariffs could also provoke a recession in Canada and other markets if the economy slows. That in turn would reduce sales of BRP vehicles, which are typically seen as a discretionary purchase that people cut during tough times. To put it bluntly: No job, no new Sea-Doo.

Citi analyst James Hardiman sees BRP in an “untenable situation,” with its cost of goods sold coming into the United States via Mexico equating to more than US$1-billion in tariff impacts. The levies would put the company firmly into the red, to the tune of a $6.65 loss per share in fiscal 2026 and a $4.63 loss per share in fiscal 2027, he said in a note.

BRP opened its first Mexican plant in Juárez, in 2007, and now has three there as well as one in Querétaro. In all, about 14,000 of the company’s 20,000 employees work in Mexico, according to the latest available figures. The numbers are now lower given adjustments the company has made over the past year but a large proportion of its global work force is based in Mexico, Ms. Proulx said.

The foreign manufacturing strategy has helped drive earnings as well as the company’s stock price, which roughly quadrupled in value from 2013 to July, 2023. Over the past five trading sessions, however, BRP shares have dropped 8 per cent as uncertainty grows over its near-term prospects.

The company saw a major sales boost during the COVID-19 pandemic but has since been reeling from softer demand. In October, it put its boat business up for sale in order to focus its resources on its snowmobile and off-road vehicles.

“It’s a difficult time for the powersports industry in general right now,” said Martin Landry, an analyst with Stifel Financial Corp. in Montreal. “Dealers are hesitant to carry a lot of inventory and there is a lot of promotional activity out there to stimulate sales.”

There are several variables that could come into play to influence how much BRP gets clobbered by tariffs.

First, the competitive dynamics might be more nuanced. Polaris also has a big plant in Mexico and has non-U.S. suppliers, which could increase its production costs. That in turn means the gap with BRP on retail pricing might not be as big as expected. Japanese competitors also rely on supply chains outside the United States.

U.S. tariffs turn Canadian Ski-Doo maker BRP’s Mexico production hub into a liability

Tariffs expose the hazards of concentrating production in one country laying bare the fragility of a North American trade pact now at the mercy of a U.S. president’s political impulses

www.theglobeandmail.com

 

[Mafesto]

Not just SkiDoo. SeaDoos are made in Mexico and currently shipping. Will be very interesting to see how BRP, Dealers & Customers handle this?

Same for Lund fiberglass fishing boats.

One must keep in mind that our security is more important than our toys.
If only there was a US company for sale that BRP could buy to move some of their production to.

 

[christopher]

Now we wait and see how this shakes out

 

[boondocker97]

BRP makes their side by sides in Mexico too.

 

[ryanjeri]

I did a little search of what Canada's current tariffs are

• Milk: ~270%
• Cheese: ~245%
• Butter: ~298%
• Chicken: ~238%
• Eggs: ~163%
• Sausages: ~69.9%
• Barley seed: ~57-58%
• Beef/Pork (certain cuts, over-quota): ~26.5%
• Steel/Aluminum (past retaliatory rate): 25%
• Cars (MFN rate, non-CUSMA): ~6.1%
• Retaliatory tariffs (March 2025, select U.S. goods): 25%

In comparison;

• Milk: ~7.5% (over-quota)
• Cheese: ~12.5% (over-quota)
• Butter: ~16% (over-quota)
• Chicken: ~17.5% (over-quota)
• Eggs: ~2.8-16% (over-quota)
• Softwood Lumber: ~14.5%
• Steel: 25% (Section 232 or general tariff, 2025)
• Aluminum: 10% (Section 232) or 25% (general tariff, 2025)
• Paper Products: ~0-10%
• Energy Products: 10% (Trump tariffs, 2025)
• General Goods: 25% (Trump tariffs on non-energy goods, 2025)

 

[ryanjeri]

So I will forgo purchasing a new sled especially if it is 25% more, and I will be OK with it. I will also delay a new can-am purchase. I think we are in a positions of it is going to get harder before it gets better, and I am cutting back a bit to prepare for a bit harder times financially.

 

[snow-doo]

Watch the numbers game.We have been getting tariffed to death from these other countries for ever.Don’t worry about the snowmobile market,living without lots of other things will hurt us a lot worse.

 

[volcano buster]

If the crux of the demands are basically to keep unwanted items from crossing the respective borders, I don't think that will be a hard sell when the numbers start rolling in. The GDP comparison is not even close for the amount of leverage the U.S. should hold.
I'm guessing that snow check orders will have a provision to allow dealers to charge with or without tariff depending on the situation when the sleds are delivered. I can only imagine this slows pre-orders more this year. But, does the dealer take a gamble and order more floor models in hopes that they can sell them in the fall for tariff free pricing?

 

[High Voltage]

BRP announced that if tariffs are in place upon sled delivery they will refund your $1000.

 

[christopher]

If the crux of the demands are basically to keep unwanted items from crossing the respective borders, I don't think that will be a hard sell when the numbers start rolling in. The GDP comparison is not even close for the amount of leverage the U.S. should hold.
I'm guessing that snow check orders will have a provision to allow dealers to charge with or without tariff depending on the situation when the sleds are delivered. I can only imagine this slows pre-orders more this year. But, does the dealer take a gamble and order more floor models in hopes that they can sell them in the fall for tariff free pricing?

Would BRP even allow that to happen.
There is just NO WAY on earth BRP is going to EAT THOSE TARIFFS.
So even if the dealers place the orders right now, I can't see BRP delivering the sleds to the dealers at the PRE-TARIFF prices.

 

[volcano buster]

I didn't say BRP, I said dealer.
It is going to be a timing game whether or not the tariff price would be in place by the time the track hits the showroom.
Otherwise, it will be a struggle for a lot of dealers to sit this year out and not plan on selling any new BRP sleds.
Flip side, I can't speak for AC but Poo has a lot of globally sourced components which would likely come at a higher price so they will not go unscathed in the pricing game if this keeps up.