Washington, D.C. - Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) president Dennis Slater issued the following statement supporting the Trump Administration’s decision to end tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico: 

“We are encouraged by the Trump Administration’s decision to end tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico. Today’s action responds to the concerns voiced by equipment manufacturers and we strongly support it,” said Dennis Slater, president of AEM. “But there is still a lot that must be done to better support equipment manufacturers and the 1.3 million men and women of our industry. While today’s decision helps our member companies conduct business in North America, we are urging Congress to immediately ratify the United States Mexico Canada (USMCA) agreement. By doing so, Congress will preserve duty-free access to our industry’s largest export markets, Canada and Mexico, and help our farmers sell more of their products at a time of incredible economic difficulty.

Slater continued, “We also continue to urge the President to completely remove all steel and aluminum tariffs on America’s other trading partners around the world, and end all the protectionist tariffs hurting U.S. farmers, American families, and our national economy. We need our elected officials to make it easier, not more difficult, for American businesses, manufacturers and farmers to be competitive in a 21st century global marketplace.”