US buyers still snapping up luxury Gold Coast yachts despite tariffs

American consumers of Australian luxury goods are still revelling in post-Covid shopping sprees, with tariffs doing little to curb the spending power of the US’s top 1 per cent.

Last month, Gold Coast luxury boat manufacturer Riviera loaded its largest-ever consignment of vessels onto a ship destined for Florida, where the company has traded for 40 years and now sells craft for up to $6.8m.

Florida-based Riviera sales director Chris McCafferty tells NewsWire the 10 per cent tariffs on imports to the US have done little to weaken demand.

“The tariffs have certainly been part of the purchase conversation over the past few months; however, they don’t appear to have had a material impact,” he said.

“What we’re seeing is more of a normalising correction in the market following the heightened demand of the Covid years.”

“Florida business owners are obviously aware of the tariffs but for the most part, it’s business as usual, so sales are holding firm – the overall market picture in the US right now for luxury motor yachts is steady.”

Riviera motor yachts coming out of the factory in Coomera on the Gold Coast are subject to a 10 per cent tariff as they hit US shores.

The tariffs took effect in April, so with an 18-month gap between orders and arrival, orders for Riviera boats were not immediately curbed as the tariff announcements, pauses and changes swept through most of the global economy.

People who can afford to spend millions of dollars on a personal boat have hardly stopped placing orders with the Gold Coast factory though.

Riviera chairman and owner Rodney Longhurst said the initial shock of the tariffs had subsided.

“When the tariffs were first announced on April 2 this year, they had the impact of confusing the market and leading to a period where, in our case, prospective boat buyers in the US adopted a ‘wait and see’ attitude … the level of the tariff was unknown and varied widely by country,” he said.

“Once the tariff for Australia was set for our industry at 10 per cent, we could move forward with clarity … we have seen the market begin to normalise.”

That “normalisation” has prompted the company to send its largest single shipment – 15 boats – to Florida from Brisbane last month. The shipment should land in the coming days, ahead of the world’s largest in-water boat show at Fort Lauderdale, north of Miami.

Those boats will be shown off and then delivered to waiting owners.

By a long margin, most of what Australia exports to the US is gold. Behind gold, meat and pharmaceuticals are second and third.

Last year, Australia imported $18.2bn of machinery from the US – the main import from our allies.

Effective April 9, the US imposed a 10 per cent tariff on most Australian exports; a baseline levy much lower than most other countries.

Washington also removed an exemption on items worth less than $US800.

Modelling from EY Oceania, released this week, suggests Australia is among the few nations with more to gain than lose from Donald Trump’s trade war disruptions.

Brazilian beef is subject to a 50 per cent tariff in the US, which makes Australian meat more attractive.

In retaliation to the sweeping tariffs, China imposed levies on US LNG and oil, again opening a gap for Australian exports to fill.