Tariffs

When Matt Dorman spent 3,240,000 guineas on eight yearling fillies at last year's Tattersalls October Book 1, he pretty much accepted that he'd never again see the 10-15% tariffs he paid on the horses again. The tariffs, a result of Donald Trump's invocation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to implement taxes on goods being imported from foreign countries in 2025, included a 10-percent rate. The figure was levied on goods coming from the U.K., while 15 percent was assessed on other European Union countries. That meant that...

President Trump's 10 percent tariffs--instituted to replace his initial slate of tariffs which were struck down by the Supreme Court in February--are also illegal, a federal trade court ruled on Thursday, according to the New York Times.  Owners of European-bred horses purchased abroad are now in the process of applying for refunds for tariffs paid under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), as reported by Dan Ross in Thursday's TDN. It's too early to say if purchasers of European-breds who have brought them to America at the recent two-year-old...

A group of 24 U.S. states sued American President Donald Trump on Thursday over his imposition of new tariffs on imports around the world, according to the New York Times, which said that his administration would now be forced back into court to try to maintain those tariffs. The lawsuit is led by the states of Oregon, New York, California, and Arizona, which argue that Trump did not have the power to impose those tariffs, the Times reports. Trump imposed the new tariffs after the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Trump's...

The uncertainty felt by stakeholders within the European bloodstock industry appears likely to persist into the summer after US President Donald Trump announced a 15% "global tariff" which will be in place for around five months. Trump's "reciprocal tariffs", imposed on most of the rest of the world last April under an emergency powers law, were overturned by the US Supreme Court on Friday in a major blow to the President's economic agenda. Speaking at the White House on Friday, Trump initially said that the Supreme Court decision affirmed his...

DEAUVILLE, FRANCE--Americans' plans for the Arqana sale were understandably shaken up when U.S. President Donald Trump made good on his threat to impose tariffs on the European Union and others in early August, meaning that French-bred horses purchased here-like all French products imported to America--would be subject to a 15% surcharge when they are brought back into America. Several buyers are deciding to break, train and race their horses in Europe instead, while others will brave the fee and come back to the U.S. On the final day of the...

DEAUVILLE, FRANCE-- When U.S. President Donald Trump made good on his threat to impose tariffs on countries around the world on August 1-including a 15% tax on goods coming into America from the European Union-markets across the world shuddered. In the bloodstock world, the first to be affected will be the Arqana August Sale, which starts this Saturday, August 16. An Arqana-sponsored plane full of Americans arrived Wednesday morning from Saratoga, and the TDN spoke with some of those who came over, and others who stayed home, and international buyers...

The massive-scaled, $455-million rebuild of Belmont Park that is on target to be finished by September 2026 is thus far unaffected by skyrocketing tariffs on steel and aluminum, although New York Racing Association (NYRA) executives told the New York State Franchise Oversight Board (FOB) during a Friday meeting they are being vigilant about monitoring the situation. NYRA and FOB personnel have good reason to be on high alert about concerns over potential cost overruns: On June 4, President Donald Trump doubled United States tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to...

There are more than three weeks to go before the running of the GI Kentucky Derby, but it wasn't too early for the TDN Writers' Room Podcast team to dive into last weekend's preps and look ahead to the first Saturday in May. The podcast is presented by Keeneland. The team of Randy Moss, Bill Finley and T.D. Thornton, all thought the best race of the week was the GI Santa Anita Derby, won by Journalism (Curlin). He overcame trouble to win the race and earned a solid 102 Beyer...

There are more than three weeks to go before the running of the GI Kentucky Derby, but it wasn't too early for the TDN Writers' Room Podcast team to dive into last weekend's preps and look ahead to the first Saturday in May. The Gainesway Guest of the Week was TDN European and International editor Emma Berry, who talked about how Donald Trump's proposed tariffs might affect European and U.S. racing.

by Sue Finley and Dan Ross Few commercial sectors appear immune from the current administration's sweeping import tariffs, and that includes horse racing's biggest Saturday of the year, with Japan's participants in the GI Kentucky Derby potential targets of the trade war. Stressing a general air of uncertainty surrounding the tariff specifics, Matt Haug, general manager of International Racehorse Transport (IRT), said that, as he and his customs broker understood the situation, the Japanese-trained Luxor Cafe (American Pharoah) is exempt from any tariff being a U.S.-bred runner. For foreign-bred horses--like...

When President Donald Trump announced sweeping updates to the United States' global tariff structure Wednesday evening, there was some good news for the Thoroughbred racing industry, according to an analysis by the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society of the fact sheet which accompanied the announcement. Horses eligible under the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) will continue to cross the U.S.-Canadian border duty-free, according to the CTHS. As outlined in the fact sheet: "For Canada and Mexico, the existing fentanyl/migration IEEPA orders remain in effect, and are unaffected by this order. This means...

The tariffs that will be placed on goods coming into the U.S. from Canada, and elsewhere, don't go into effect until Apr. 2. But they're already producing dire forecasts for what they will mean for the Canadian breeding industry. For instance, if someone brings a Canadian-bred to a U.S. yearling sale, the purchaser will have to pay a 25% tariff on top of the purchase price. That will probably mean that the Canadian breeder will disappear from the U.S. sales. No one has paid closer attention to this situation than...