Trump Slaps 100% Tariffs on Drones and Aircraft Parts

The United States has already all but closed its market to future foreign drones — along with routers, robots, and Roomba robot vacuums — unless their makers agree to concessions to Washington. Now President Donald Trump has taken aim at what has already been brought in: a new order declares steeper tariffs on imported drones and their components.

Who, and How Much

A 100 percent tariff will apply to drones with thermal imagers, aircraft heavier than 25 kg (about 57 pounds), and any parts for any unmanned aerial vehicles in that same weight class. For all other drones, including tiny consumer models weighing less than 250 grams, the rate will be 25%.

As is often the case with Trump, the measures come with a big loophole: a company that commits to setting up part of its drone or parts production on US soil is exempt from the tariffs. The president floated a similar scheme a year ago, when he threatened a 100 percent tariff on microchips. Reduced rates are also spelled out separately — 15% for the EU, Japan, Liechtenstein, South Korea, Switzerland, and Taiwan, and 10% for the United Kingdom, but only on the condition that virtually all of the hardware, software, and technology originates from those countries and the US.

The White House's Case

The justification cites national security concerns. American manufacturers, the order says, are too dependent on foreign supplies of critical components — motors, electronic speed controllers, lithium-ion batteries, and charging stations. On top of that, the software in foreign drones is capable of sending data back to the manufacturer abroad, and domestic industry might not be able to churn out aircraft in the volumes needed in the event of a military conflict. As a “carrot,” the commerce secretary is tasked with creating a program to encourage new production within the country — though previous measures of this kind were aimed primarily at military drones.

The Legal Backdrop

Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court ruled Trump's global tariffs illegal back at the start of the year, and the Court of International Trade handed down a similar decision — yet new tariffs keep being announced one after another. The Verge points out the bitter mechanics of what's happening: first companies pass the tariffs on to buyers by raising prices, then, once the tariffs are ruled illegal, they collect large refunds from the budget — and neither are the refunds shared with consumers, nor are the prices brought back down.

Tariffs are not the only tool of pressure. The Federal Communications Commission recently threatened to retroactively ban “military-grade drones,” and such a sweeping definition risks sweeping in the aircraft of farmers, rescuers, and light-show organizers.

Source: The Verge