Trump tariffs hit Alabama school district's tight budget on new school buses

The Trump administration’s multiple new tariffs have reached a central Alabama school district.

Superintendent Lyman Woodfin addressed board members to let them know that a $2,500 tariff is being added to six of the 11 school buses it purchased last fall.

Last month President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on automobiles set to take effect May 3 and state funding currently covers about $76,000 of the cost of the purchase of a school bus. 

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The charge is one that district leaders did not expect and could strain their tight budget.

"I’m not very happy with this," she told the board at the April 15 meeting. "We received notice that there’s now a government tariff they are trying to put on the buses that we bought."

Woodfin says the cause of the additional expense lies in that six of the 11 buses are being manufactured after the tariff date, so they are being charged $2,500 for manufacturing.

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The broadcast of the meeting shows an invoice included in the board meeting agenda highlighting purchases:

According to Woodfin, the district attempted to push back on the charge with the vendor, but were told it must be paid.

State Superintendent Eric Mackey told Alabama Daily News that, as far as he knows, Autauga County is the first district to receive the tariff charge – but likely not the last.

"We found out that most of the bus vendors are planning on charging a surcharge," Mackey said. "We don’t have an exact number – $1,500 to $2,500 – but we don’t have that in writing yet."

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Blue Bird CEO Phil Horlock told investors that tariffs would affect customers up to an additional 5% cost for non-electric buses, according to a February earnings call.