The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show opened yesterday to throngs of visitors and a multitude of product introductions from the global marine industry.
NMMA Urges Action on E.U. Tariff
Author:
May 13, 2021
The National Marine Manufacturers Association is urging the Biden administration to take immediate action on the European Union’s retaliatory tariff on American-built boats and engines.
Leading up to
today’s hearing on the administration’s trade agenda, NMMA implored the White House, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Ambassador Katherine Tai, the U.S. Trade Representative, to come to more favorable terms with the E.U.
The 25 percent tariff, which went into effect in 2018, is slated to double June 1.
NMMA president Frank Hugelmeyer said there is no question the tariffs have been harmful to the U.S. marine industry.
Telltale Signs
Jeff Moser
For six agonizing days in March, massive earth-moving machines and stout tugboats labored around the clock to free the 1,312-foot, 2-inch
Ever Given from the Suez Canal mud. An estimated $9.6 billion worth of goods transported daily on the 120-mile east-west connector was stuck.
It finally took an alignment of the celestial bodies and a high, perigean spring tide to free the ship and allow the 450 vessels idling in the Mediterranean and Red seas to begin to pass. The true costs still remain difficult to quantify, but one thing is for certain: The grounding happened at a time when the delicate supply-chain balance was already stretched and vulnerable.
The Supply-Chain Storm
Author:
In early March,
The New York Times quoted an executive at global shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk, who said, “I’ve never seen anything like this.” He was describing how all the links in the global supply chain are stretched. Ships, trucks, warehouses, everything.
This assessment was not news to OEMs in the U.S. marine industry. Keeping the supply chain moving and products available to meet consumer demand has become a huge part of some industry leaders’ jobs in the past year.
Indiana-based Barletta Boats was preparing for market growth when Covid-19 first hit in 2020. Its new production facility was up and running in April this year.