AED’s McGuire Issues Statement In Opposition to “Reciprocal” Tariff Plan
On April 3, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his “reciprocal” tariff plan, effectively setting a 10 percent minimum/baseline tariff rate for imports from all countries utilizing claimed authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977. There are currently no sector or product specific exclusion procedures in place, although the administration has signalled a willingness to commence negotiations with countries. As of now, no specific retaliatory tariffs have been announced although several large trading partners have indicated without modifications, such actions will be forthcoming.
Following President Trump’s Rose Garden announcement, the Associated Equipment Distributor’s president & CEO Brian McGuire issued the following statement:
“Let’s be clear: AED supports free and fair trade and the reduction of trade barriers for United States exports. It’s unclear whether the president’s plan will accomplish those goals. Nonetheless, AED continues to advocate for dialog between trading partners and calls on the administration and global leaders to quickly work toward a resolution that restores certainty and predictability to the world economy. The equipment industry and our customers can ill afford a prolonged trade war that unnecessarily increases the costs of equipment and parts that are critical to building, feeding, and fueling the world.”
Established in 1919, Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) is a not-for-profit international trade association based in Schaumburg, Ill., representing companies involved in the sale, rental, manufacturing, and support of equipment used in construction, agriculture, mining, forestry, power generation, and industrial applications.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.