‘This Is not Good’

Christophe Lavigne, president of Highfield Boats USA, is no stranger to the effects a trade tussle can have on a boatbuilding business, especially one that partially relies on components imported from China. While the boats Highfield sells in North America are rigged in Cadillac, Mich., by American workers, the PVC and Hypalon tubes and some of the aluminum hulls and fiberglass components are fabricated in China.

In 2022, Lavigne and his team set to work on mitigating the negative effects future tariffs might have on the RIB manufacturer’s production. The company set about establishing a rigging operation in the United States while expanding its use of American-made components, such as hulls, fiberglass components, engines and trailers. The facility opened in 2023.

Since then, Highfield has grown its dealer network and increased market share while fine-tuning a hybrid supply chain that contains a mix of U.S. and Chinese components. Lavigne said Highfield is the 31st largest boat brand in the United States and has a 32% market share in its category. By most accounts, his strategies worked.

As Highfield now faces tariffs as high as 197.5% on imported Chinese goods, Lavigne is being forced to wait and see what happens next. “It’s really difficult; this is not good,” Lavigne told Trade Only Today. “And we know it’s not going to stay there. It can’t. All the clothing and the shoes and all the goods that [people and companies] buy from China will not stay that high.”

Lavigne said there are strategies to work around the tariffs, but they come with risks. “I’ll give you one strategy, which is something we are thinking about,” he said. “If we assume the fact that the situation will evolve and improve, we can consider bringing goods into the U.S. but leave them in a free-trade zone … an FTZ.”

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a free trade zone is a “secure area under U.S. Customs and Border Protection supervision that is generally considered outside CBP territory. Located in or near CBP ports of entry, they are the United States’ version of what are known internationally as free-trade zones.”

“It’s a risky strategy because if it doesn’t change, you have goods that you cannot afford,” Lavigne said. “Nobody will pay 200% tariff on anything — it’s too expensive, and there is no value there. The FTZ strategy is an option but could be very costly if the tariff situation does not change and we’re stuck with a bill for a huge shipment of tariffed components.”

Lavigne said the production cycle with materials already on hand stretches to early July, and most of those boats are already sold to dealers. “I have reduced shipments of tubes, hulls and other materials we source from China to limit my exposure. I am hopeful our politicians act so we can get back to business and keep our American employees working. Our dealers have fresh inventory, just in time for the season, and we are confident they all will have a successful year.”

Highfield sources many U.S.-made components, including some hulls and fiberglass components from Smoker Craft in New Paris, Ind., but tariffs on U.S. products that go to Highfield’s China factory — Lavigne mentioned Perko, Attwood, Mercury and others — get slapped with heavy retaliatory tariffs.

“The government needs to understand how bad the tariffs are hurting small American companies and facilities like our Cadillac plant,” Lavigne said. “We have 15 direct employees at Highfield in the U.S. — all Americans. We sell to 60 dealers. They all have employees to sell and service the product. We buy EZ Loader trailers. We buy Mercury engines, Perko parts, Attwood parts, electronics and more. We give jobs to, I don’t know, hundreds of people through the process. This is all hurting them in some way.”

Until things change, Lavigne plans to keep production going as long as possible. “Today, I have not stopped production; we are still making boats here and in our production facility in China,” he said. “We are also accelerating our production in the U.S. I have employees today in the factory building our first jet series made here, so we are pushing that.”

Lavigne clarified that he doesn’t believe tariffs are the enemy, but the way they’ve been implemented is not sustainable. “I’m not against tariffs, and that’s something I may not say strongly enough,” he said. “I understand the need for tariffs, and I agree with tariff policy. But we need to be reasonable and do them step by step. The way things are now? It’s really hard.”