The hydraulic and pneumatic components used in the manufacture, maintenance, and repair of construction equipment will be affected by tariffs, if President Donald Trump follows through on his commitment to implement them against Mexico, Canada, and China.
Although his first salvo of threatened tariffs against Canada and Mexico earlier this month has been delayed, tariffs aimed at China are scheduled to take effect today.
Tariffs will probably drive up the costs involved in the manufacture of hydraulic and pneumatic components, according to a report in Power&Motion, a sibling brand of Construction Equipment.
Lauren Saidel-Baker, an economist at ITR Economics, said that the goal of tariffs is to protect domestic production by making cheaper foreign production more expensive, Power&Motion reported. This could lead to higher prices for companies sourcing components or materials from other countries to make their goods, including hydraulics and pneumatics suppliers.
Rance Herren, director—technical services at Fluid Power SME said the biggest challenge he sees is determining if the increased costs can be absorbed or whether alternate sources must be established.
“Depending on the complexity of the components, the actual impact on the manufacturing costs as well as the installed base of equipment that must be supported with equivalent spares…I believe most businesses in the short term will wait and see before making significant changes,” Herren told Power&Motion.
Herren said a potential benefit to tariffs is manufacturers establishing U.S. operations.
The article referenced in this story originally ran as “Trump Tariffs Causing Uncertainty for Fluid Power Industry” on PowerMotionTech.com, an Endeavor Business Media sibling site.
