By Chad Tokowicz, MRAA Government Relations Manager & Mike Sayre, MRAA Director of Government Relations

As the results from the General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 5, continue to take shape it is clear that Donald Trump has emerged as winner of both the popular and electoral college votes, and will be named the 47th President of the United States. Furthermore, the U.S. Senate has flipped and now features a Republican majority, with 52 seats to 47 Democrats with one race still too close to call. At the time of writing this, results for the House race are still inconclusive, however, it is leaning toward a Republican majority. Regardless of who wins the majority, the margins in the House will remain razor thin. In the event that the Republicans do take the House, they will control the Presidency, Senate and House, which will make the passage of policies through Congress and Senate confirmations much easier.

Impact on Recreational Boating
The results of the election have major implications for the recreational boating industry and this blog will outline some of what we expect to come.

• A second Trump Administration will hopefully be good news for major industry issues like the Right Whale Vessel Speed Rule. While the Biden Administration could still finalize the Right Whale Vessel Speed Rule before the end of the year, there is a very high likelihood that it will be overturned by the Trump Administration come January. If the Biden Administration does nothing with the rule before the transition, it will surely be dead upon Trump’s inauguration.
• The Trump Administration will also usher in another era of deregulation, and this may mean that various worker protections put in place by the Biden Administration are undone, potentially including policies like the Overtime Rule change. Similarly, many of the regulatory activities of the Biden Administration’s Federal Trade Commission, such as the proposed Junk Fee rule, will also face scrutiny from the new Trump Administration.
• Additionally, the Trump campaign has promised to put in place tariffs on imports, which may ultimately increase the price of imported items used for building recreational vessels as well as imported accessories and related items — and this increased cost may then find its way to dealers and therefore consumers. The Trump campaign proposed tariffs of 10-20% for all imports entering the United States, and tariffs between 60-100% on Chinese imports. Whether or not the incoming Trump Administration follows through on these trade policies remains to be seen but such wide-ranging tariff proposals will face pushback from many industries that depend on imported goods and raw materials.
• Tax policy is another area where we will see a flurry of activity from the Trump Administration and unified Republican Congress. President Trump has long been focused on lowering the tax burden on citizens and businesses. While the details of the Trump tax plan are complex, from a macro-level perspective, we can expect that the original provisions of the Trump Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are made permanent. Furthermore, we may see tax policy focusing on exempting tips and overtime pay from income taxes. As Congress and the Administration begin to discuss these tax cuts, the MRAA will be at the table to see if further tax cuts for small businesses can be secured.

State of the States
While this election resulted in significant changes to the composition of the federal government, at the state level, the changes were much more modest. Of the 11 governorships up for grabs, none changes party hands. Not every state legislative result has been fully determined but so far only three state legislative chambers have changed party control with Republicans making most of those gains.

As the MRAA continues to prepare for the 119th Congress and to work with the Trump Administration, we will be sure to brief you with any important updates or calls to action. As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Government Relations Manager Chad Tokowicz at Chad@mraa.com.