New tariffs will affect horses imported from most countries

Tariffs implemented this month by the Trump administration wil affect horses imported from countries other than Canada or Mexico.

These tariffs, or taxes on imported goods, include a base 10% levy against most countries that took effect Saturday. President Donald Trump also announced additional country-specific tariffs that are scheduled to take effect Wednesday. The tariffs were previously reported by Eric Mitchell of BloodHorse.

According to an NTRA release in March, the tariffs are based on the declared value when the horse enters the country. If a horse goes on to sell at an auction for more than that declared value, a higher tariff is not generally retroactively applied.

The White House published a table of tariffs last Wednesday. According to that table, tariffs for countries that frequently do breeding and racing business with the U.S. include a 20% rate for European Union members, a 24% rate for Japan and a 25% rate for South Korea. Other major horse racing countries including the United Kingdom, Australia and most South American countries including Argentina, Brazil and Chile are only subject to the base 10% tariff.

Though there is a 25% tariff placed on goods from Canada and Mexico, the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement remains in place. Goods that are defined under that treaty as duty-free are excepted from the new tariff. Live horses, both for breeding and for racing, are included under that exception.