Vintage and classic car lovers in the United States can heave a sigh of relief. That’s because while all new cars being imported into the country are hit with Trump’s 25 percent tariff, classic and collector’s cars have been exempted. This is also good news for specialist firms who deal in these kind of cars. America is a big market for them. Had vintage cars been subject to the 25 percent tariff, prices would’ve skyrocketed beyond imagination. A $100,000 Lancia Delta Integrale would’ve become a $125,000 proposition, while some 1960s Ferraris would have seen their price tags increase by over a million dollars. But now that they are exempt, they can be imported as before with only a 2.5 percent duty. However, this tariff relief comes with a catch. The exemption applies only to cars that are 25 years old or older. If the vehicle entering the country is 24 years and 364 days old or younger, it will still be hit with the same 25 percent tariff as a new car. For eg: a car like the BMW E46 M3 CSL that has just turned 20, will still be very expensive to import after the tariff came into effect. Lawyers from Simon Gluck & Kane LLP said in a letter to in a letter to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, said that the tax exemption was a right call. The reason given was that if the imposition of a 25 percent tariff resulted in a car not being imported to America because it had become too expensive, not only would the government miss out on the duty, but the states would also lose funds from taxes raised by the sale of the car inside the US. In summary, if imported vintage cars were hit with the 25 percent tariff, it would spell doom for an industry that relies on 43 million classic cars in the US and a combined value of more than $1 trillion, according to data from Hagerty. Source: Carscoops
