NMMA Offers Recommendations to Congress and the Treasury on Tax Relief and Economic Stimulus

In letters to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulsen, House and Senate leadership and appropriate House and Senate committees, NMMA provided recommendations on how to help small and medium sized businesses in the marine industry weather the economic storm.

In a joint letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulsen, The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and the National Marine Bankers Association (NMBA) drew attention to the growing concern that the resources made available through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was not reaching critical sectors of the financial industry with sufficient pace. The boating industry is uniquely vulnerable to volatile credit markets and illiquidity, as financing for marine dealers is limited to a handful of specialty financial lending institutions, many of whom have exited the market in recent months.

The letter also explained that consumers now have fewer choices to obtain retail financing for recreational boat purchases, and marine dealer are having increasing difficulty securing and retaining sufficient credit to sustain their operations and purchase new model year product. Additionally, marine manufacturers have been forced to dramatically scale back new production across all market segments. Should lending continue to contract for the marine sector, the U.S. boating industry will face severe short- and long-term challenges.

To read NMMA’s letters, click here.

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