The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is an event deeply rooted in tradition. Historically, they haven’t been keen on taking any strong stands on political or religious issues—but this year, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance chairman Sandra Button is calling on people to break with their traditions and vocally oppose Trump’s import tariffs in an email sent out to car enthusiasts.
As reported earlier this week, Trump is looking to impose a 25% tariff on imported cars and car parts in order to protect US interests, since those imports can be considered a national security risk. Not many people in the automotive world are happy with it, including the folks at the Concours d’Elegance. Which is why Button is calling on all of us to let the government know how we feel:
“I cannot imagine what might happen if imported collector cars and car parts are designated as national security risks and taxed at 25%. I cannot imagine how we will be able to maintain and share even the collector cars we already have in the United States—whether first made here or abroad. How will we be able to continue to use them?
“I hope you, too, will read through the government’s proposal and offer your own thoughts if you have concerns… Time is of the essence: the deadline for comments is June 22.”
It’s a pretty legitimate concern for an event that kind of depends on imports and classics in order to, y’know, exist. Collecting classics is already an involved process that can be expensive to maintain; adding a 25% tariff will likely have a huge impact on events like these, and even on your local car shows.
No matter your personal thoughts on the current administration in the States, the President is considering some pretty heavy-hitting regulations that are inevitably going to impact the thing that brought us all to this site in the first place: cars. And people like Sandra Button aren’t going to just sit around and watch it happen
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