Haas F1 release concerning statement after being affected by Donald Trump’s Tariffs
Haas F1 team has multiple F1 bases, but its main base is in the United States, where the team is based. With the US President trying to implement stringent tariff rules on foreign nations, the American team has expressed their concerns in an official statement made by Haas Automation.
The American team joined the grid in 2016 and is currently the newest team in the F1 stable. The Kannapolis-based team purchases almost all the parts allowed under the FIA's transferable parts list, which could be bought from other teams.
The US-based manufacturer utilizes this regulation by buying most of the transferable parts from Ferrari, a technical partnership that has helped forge an office in Maranello for the American team. With the newest team on the grid heavily relying on its foreign competitors for a fair chunk of parts, Donald Trump's new tariff proposition could affect them.
Raising concerns for the same, the team's parent company, Haas Automation, shared an official statement, which said:
"Haas Automation is in the process of studying the full impact of tariffs on our operations. In recent days, we’ve seen a dramatic decrease in demand for our machine tools from both domestic and foreign customers. Out of caution, we have reduced production and eliminated overtime at our sole manufacturing plant in Oxnard, California, where we employ 1700 workers and have been in operation since 1983. We have also halted hiring and put new employment requisitions on hold."
"Haas is particularly concerned about the potential reduction of tariffs on machine tools from certain countries, such as Japan, Taiwan, and Korea, without a corresponding reduction in tariff rates for imported raw materials and components into the U.S. Such a scenario would be catastrophic to the $5 billion U.S. machine tool industry, which is a key component of U.S. national security," the statement further read.
United States' presence in the F1 grid is set to increase tremendously over the next year as a new manufacturer (Cadillac) and an engine collaboration (Ford-Red Bull) will involve two US giants.
Haas will not be the only team suffering the hammer of tariffs in the US on the F1 grid
From 2026, Red Bull will build its powertrains, and Ford will be working in collaboration with the Austrian giant. While the RBPT is understood to be manufactured at the Milton Keynes base in the UK, if any part is developed in the US, tariff constraints might come into play.
On the other hand, General Motors will join the F1 grid next year under the Cadillac badge. Though the team already has a base in the UK, if any situation appears where the team needs to import some commodities to the US, a similar tariff problem might arise again.