Government to Investigate Truck Manufacturing Capabilities
Unless you have been completely disconnected from the news (in which case, how are you reading this?), there is a word that you have heard to the point of nausea: tariffs, and the mass hysteria surrounding their implications.
Things are not all doom and gloom for the trucking industry, however, as the Trump Administration has started probing, before the tariffs begin, to see if the United States is capable of carrying its own weight in producing the components used to operate the nation’s fleet via truck manufacturing.
Details
There are hundreds of parts that go into making a truck move, all of which are made of basic materials refined to meet the needs of the component. Things such as:
- Steel for framing.
- Copper for wiring.
- Semiconductors for the truck’s computer.
Were the Trump Administration to instate tariffs on these materials and more, the price of a new truck may increase. Preventing a price increase would require the materials to be extracted here in the United States.
- The United States Geological Survey (USGS) states that the United States produces 81 million tons of steel each year.
- According to USGS, the United States still has one million metric tons of proven copper reserves.
- The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 is estimated to triple semiconductor production in the USA by 2032.
All of this is being done under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which enables the president to reduce imports from other countries in the name of protecting domestic interests.
Trump has cited numerous potential vulnerabilities as reasons for implementing tariffs on different countries, ranging from illegal drug trade to potential spyware.
Conclusion
While these various components used to make trucks are not solely employed by the trucking industry (copper, for instance, is used in pipes to transport potable water), the USA has proven to have enough reserves for a majority of raw materials used to produce trucks to go around.
The most likely culprit of added cost are in tire maintenance, as the United States currently imports twenty times more rubber than it exports. This will likely be one of the points the Trump Administration will focus on ramping up American production in order to go on the offensive in any trade wars.
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