WASHINGTON, D.C., September 2, 2026 — Save America’s Working Vehicles Executive Director Todd Cranney sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins commending her support of farmers, while urging the Trump Administration to fully and permanently eliminate Section 232 metal tariffs on off-road working vehicles, including all-terrain vehicles (ATVs – HTS Code 8703.21.01) and utility task vehicles (UTVs – HTS Code 8703.10.50).
Section 232 steel tariffs are applied to the full customs value of these vehicles, not just their metal content. This raises the cost of a single off-road working vehicle by as much as $5,000. Farmers and ranchers already stretching repair budgets and running older equipment cannot absorb another expense of that size.
Cranney urges Secretary Rollins, the Department of Commerce, the U.S. Trade Representative, and the White House to extend permanent relief to ATVs and UTVs, which are equally essential to daily farm and ranch operations.
“A tariff designed to strengthen domestic metals production was never meant to arrive as a several-thousand-dollar equipment penalty on a family farm,” Cranney wrote. “Full relief for off-road working vehicles is a commonsense, America First correction that leaves the tariff’s protection for domestic metals production intact while keeping the bill off the people who keep this country safe, fed, and powered.”
The appeal comes as America’s farmers and ranchers face mounting financial pressure. USDA’s own Economic Research Service forecasts that net farm income will fall by $4.1 billion this year once inflation is accounted for. Roughly 70% of farmers say they cannot afford all the fertilizer they need this season, according to an American Farm Bureau Federation survey, and Chapter 12 farm bankruptcy filings in April reached their highest monthly level since February 2020 – a 130% increase over the year before.
On a working farm or ranch, ATVs and UTVs are not recreational vehicles. They help move livestock, transport tools and parts, and maneuver in hard-to-reach areas where a traditional truck cannot fit. Motorcycles and e-bikes have already been granted relief from these tariffs. The letter concludes that off-road working vehicles deserve the same treatment..
See here for the full letter.
About Save America’s Working Vehicles
Save America’s Working Vehicles is committed to ensuring that America’s farmers, ranchers, energy producers, and front-line responders can afford the vehicles they need to do their jobs. Learn more at: https://saveworkingvehicles.org/
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