Canada-U.S. trade war tariffs could impact heavy duty parts supply

Parts supply has been an issue for the heavy-duty trucking industry for years, but tariffs from the Canada-America trade war could aggravate the issue further.

While the tariffs don’t directly target heavy-duty vehicles like semi-trucks, the industry is still bracing for aftershock effects.

“For our industry, it’s important,” says Scott Tetz, president and founder of Truck Parts Inventory.

“There’s quite a bit of material that goes back and forth.”

Truck Parts Inventory helps companies sell new, used and aftermarket trucks and parts across North America. Working with salvage yards, manufacturers, rebuilders and dealerships, many of their sellers rely heavily on cross-border sales; something tariffs could make costly.

“A lot of the distribution centers are either in Canada or in the US, not in both,” says Tetz. “Sometimes they’re in both, but if they’re not, then you’re going to get double tariffed on some of those materials, some of these parts.”

Many parts suppliers learned tough lessons about preparedness during previous times of uncertainty like the COVID-19 pandemic. With the trade war posing a potentially equal threat to the supply of heavy truck parts, having more inventory on hand could help suppliers mitigate the effects of tariffs on both sides of the border.

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“What some of our customers did as soon as COVID hit is they just put big orders in right away and those guys had the supply a lot longer,” says Tetz. “They still ran out, but they had supply a lot longer than the other sellers did.”

While the long-term tariff impacts are still largely uncertain, demand for parts isn’t. Tetz urges parts sellers to try and stay ahead of the curve like normal, especially since selling parts is difficult when there’s none on hand.

“That is a very important part of the parts business is that you have to have those parts when they’re needed.”

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