President Trump has decided to impose a punishing tariff on imported kayaks as part of his trade offensive. Speaking at the White House, the president said he has decided on a tariff of 25 percent for foreign-made plastic kayaks.  “We’ll be imposing tariffs on kayaks” the president said. “You will have protection for the first time in a long while, and we’re going to regrow our own domestic kayak industry.”

Trump acted following a determination by the Commerce Department earlier this month that rising import volumes of cheap, low quality kayaks threatened U.S. kayak manufacturers and the safety of recreational paddlers. An exemption from the tariff for Canada, maker of Nova, Swift and Wenonah kayaks, is included in the Presidential Order.

The president justified the tariff by invoking a little-used Cold War era law that gives presidents broad discretion to curb imports deemed a threat to “national safety.” The announcement was based on studies conducted by the Commerce Department, made public last month, which concluded that cheap kayak imports had eroded the country’s recreational boating safety, and to protect the U.S. domestic kayak industry.

“This welcome action is long overdue for struggling kayak plants,” said AFL-CIO President Rich Johneka, who issued rare praise for Mr. Trump, calling the move “a great first step” and pledging to “continue to work with the administration on rewriting trade rules to benefit American working people.”

Click the photo below to see a list of the Chinese-import kayaks affected by this tariff:

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