Hike on Tariffs for Lithium-Ion Batteries Outside EV Sector Draws Fire

A number of prominent trade groups, along with Winnebago, the motor home and powerboat maker with 6,000 employees, questioned the wisdom of a tariff hike from 7.5% to 25% on lithium-ion batteries outside the electric vehicle sector (Harmonized Tariff Schedule subheading 8507.60.0020).

The comments noted that those batteries are usually made where the electric toothbrush, lawn equipment, toy or other item is made, and hiking tariffs on them would not divert trade.

The National Retail Federation, the Retail Industry Leaders Association, the Consumer Technology Association and the Information Technology Industry Council all expressed disapproval of the change. The ITI wrote: "This HTS code alone accounts for more than half of the total trade value of the Administration’s proposed tariff modifications." It would affect $10 billion worth of batteries imported annually, the group said.

This change is the largest tariff hike among changes to Section 301 tariffs proposed by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative after its four-year review of the tariffs and tariff exclusions. Stakeholders were invited to comment on the proposed changes.

Several of the groups that focused on this modification also oppose Section 301 tariffs generally, the Americans for Free Trade and ITI among them. ITI wrote: "We continue to call for the complete rollback of these tariffs."

The Consumer Technology Association wrote: "USTR has continuously ignored comments from the private sector regarding the true harms of the Section 301 tariffs." The Section 301 review results "are merely the latest example of this willful blindness." It added: "We maintain our position that the Administration should abandon the Section 301 tariffs."

The group argued that this segment has no allegations of predatory industrial policy in China, and has no nexus to strategic sectors such as EVs, chips or solar panels.

CTA cited an outboard motor manufacturer that was losing a Section 301 exclusion on an input it had since 2019, and said that, plus these tariff rate increases will mean the company will not be able to sell new electric boat engines at competitive prices.

Winnebago said the higher rates on these batteries will begin in January 2026, and that's not enough runway to ramp up domestic production.

"We feel we are especially impacted by domestic sourcing as the limited U.S. based availability is being garnered in large part by EV powertrain battery producers leaving non-power train battery producers at a significant disadvantage," the company wrote.

The Motorcycle Industry Council, the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America, and the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association opposed this change, as well as hikes on other lead-acid storage batteries (under HTS 8507.60.0010), EV lithium ion batteries (under HTS 8703.40, 8703.50, 8703.60, 8703.70 or 8703.80 8507.60.00), lithium-ion batteries (under HTS 8507.80), other storage batteries (under HTS 8507.90), and battery parts (under HTS 8711.60.90).