Owner-operator Joe Bielucki recently looked into how much it would cost to replace his 2023 International HX before the Environmental Protection Agency's 2027 emissions regs spike prices.
One line in the quote the cautious, experienced owner-op got back from a trusted dealer gave him a little bit of a sticker shock: a $9,500 tariff line-item fee on the truck.
That $9,500 hit comes from 25% Section 232 tariffs announced for medium- and heavy-duty truck imports by the Trump administration. The tariff here only applies to the non-U.S.-made content of the International, and went into effect in November.
"It was basically my current spec from three years ago," Bielucki said. "My truck cost $155,000" back in 2023. With the current model year, "now it's $190,000, and that $9,500 tariff was a deal-breaker for me."
Bielucki is in no rush to sell his '23. "I only have 120,000 miles on it and three years' Cummins warranty left," he said.
Still, he likes to stay ahead of regs changes, sometimes to a fault. When his home state of Connecticut introduced a new tax on trucks based on vehicle weight and miles traveled, he took a good look at the letter of the law and decided to pay the full freight, as if he was loaded to 80,000 pounds, every time, out of an abundance of caution.
