Trucking news and briefs for Monday, Oct. 20, 2025:
- Trump's 25% tariff on trucks: Some will get preferential treatment under the Mexico-Canada agreement.
- Do you know this truck and/or driver? Pennsylvania police want your help.
- More weight-limit relief for these Iowa haulers.
Details of Trump's 25% truck tariffs revealed
The Trump administration on Friday, Oct. 17, provided some clarity around the 25% Section 232 tariffs announced for medium- and heavy-duty truck imports.
The new tariffs, scheduled to take effect Nov. 1, will apply to the full value of Class 3 to Class 8 trucks that do not qualify for preferential treatment under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). USMCA-compliant medium- and heavy-duty truck parts, and all U.S. content, will be exempt from the tariffs.
“For medium- and heavy-duty trucks that qualify for preferential tariff treatment under the USMCA, the tariff will only apply to the value of the non-U.S. content in the vehicle,” according to a Fact Sheet published by the White House. The tariff on truck parts will apply to key parts, including engines, transmissions, tires, and chassis.
As previously reported, all the major North American heavy-truck manufacturers are global companies with assembly operations in the U.S., but many supplement those plants with sister facilities in Mexico. Under the USMCA free trade agreement -- a deal Trump signed in 2018 that went into effect in 2020, replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) -- those trucks have generally been allowed into the U.S. tariff-free.
The USMCA exemption could be temporary, as Trump’s proclamation added that USMCA-compliant medium- and heavy-duty truck parts will not be subject to tariffs until "the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, establishes a process to apply tariffs to the non-U.S. content of the parts."
Trump’s proclamation also “incentivizes domestic medium- and heavy-duty truck production by offering an offset to a portion of tariffs for medium- and heavy-duty truck parts equal to 3.75% of the aggregate value of all trucks assembled in the United States from 2025 through 2030,“ the White House noted. “This percentage reflects the duty that would be owed when a 25% tariff is applied to 15% of the value of a U.S.-assembled medium- and heavy-duty truck.”
[Related: New truck tariff to spark 'major increase in equipment cost'?]
That offset can be used to adjust any Section 232 medium- and heavy-duty truck part tariffs owed by a medium- and heavy-duty truck manufacturer. An equivalent offset program will also be established for medium- and heavy-duty truck engine manufacturers based on the value of medium- and heavy-duty truck engines assembled in the United States.
Trucks, engines and parts covered by the tariff “will not be subject to additional or existing sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper, automobiles and automobile parts, and lumber,” the White House noted, adding that “they also will not be subject to reciprocal tariffs or the tariffs imposed" a bevy of goods imported from "Canada, Mexico, Brazil, or India.”
[Related: President Trump updates timeline for heavy-duty truck tariffs, adds medium-duty trucks]
Police seek help locating diesel fuel theft suspect
Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) are asking for the public’s help as part of an investigation into a fuel theft from the Rutter’s fuel stop in Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania.
According to a Facebook post from PSP Troop L - Schuylkill Haven, a truck driver stole more than $400 in diesel fuel by fueling the truck and leaving the scene without going into the store to pay for the fuel. The driver did not pay at the pump. A second incident occurred recently with the same suspect and same truck in Berks County at a different Rutter’s location, PSP added. Photos of the suspect and truck can be seen below:
PSP noted that there may be other Rutter’s locations affected.
The suspect was known to be operating the pictured red truck with the JMI Transport LLC company logo on the doors. The truck is suspected to be a 2007 Freightliner bearing Pennsylvania registration AH46464, registered to a Benjamin Polanco-Morillo out of York, Pennsylvania. The truck has faded red paint on the top of the cab.
The registered owner may or may not be directly involved, PSP noted. While the truck is his and JMI is his business, the identity of the pictured suspect is unknown.
Any person with information is asked to contact the PSP Schuylkill Haven at 570-754-4600 or PSP Tips Toll Free at 800-472-8477, or online.
All callers to PSP Tips could be eligible for a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest, the solving of a crime/cold case or the location of a wanted person/fugitive or missing person.
Weight limit exemption for Iowa ag haulers extended
Truck drivers in Iowa who qualify for the state’s harvest proclamation related to weight limits and grain, fertilizer and manure hauling now have more time to operate under the exemption.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has extended the proclamation through Nov. 17. It was previously set to expire on Oct. 18.
The proclamation allows vehicles transporting corn, soybeans, hay, straw, silage, stover, fertilizer (dry, liquid and gas), and manure (dry and liquid) to be overweight (not exceeding 90,000 pounds gross weight) without a permit for the duration of the proclamation.
The proclamation applies to loads of the listed commodities transported on all highways within Iowa, excluding the interstate system, and those that:
- Do not exceed a maximum of 90,000 pounds gross weight
- Do not exceed the maximum axle weight limit determined under the non-primary highway maximum gross weight table in Iowa Code § 321.463 (6) (b), by more than 12.5%
- Do not exceed the legal maximum axle weight limit of 20,000 pounds
- Comply with posted limits on roads and bridges
[Related: Harvest proclamation issued in Iowa allowing heavier hauls for select commodities]
