ATV Industry Facts: Did You Know?

New tariffs can mean big price spikes in every facet of our industry.

If you’ve been following the news at all, you are aware of impending tariffs on imported Chinese goods. While initial reaction may be to take a sigh of relief as Chinese manufactured ATVs represent only a tiny fraction of the machines on the market, think again.

Our entire industry is built upon a global network. Machines developed and manufactured in Japan, Canada and the USA are all dependent upon parts and materials that come from all over the world- many specifically from China.

So drastic are these concerns that Polaris Industries CEO Scott Wine recently sat down with to CNBC and explained this reality. And it’s a lot worse than many of us realized:

“At 25% it’s downright catastrophic in terms of impact on the company and employees,” Wine said, adding that increased tariffs could erase a third of the company’s net income.

CNBC goes on to say Sunday evening, President Trump tweeted he would raise the current 10% tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25%, effective Friday. He also threatened to add another 25% levy on another $325 billion of Chinese goods “shortly.” Shares of Polaris dropped sharply on Monday after the tweet.

The full report (and video) can be seen here.