ARA at the Wheel Latest News and Reports from ARA

ARA Press Release Addresses Attacks on Recycled Parts; FTC Letter to Hyundai

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n May, ARA issued a press release expressing disappointment with a re- cent revision by Hyundai Motor Amer- ica to its policies regarding the use of replacement parts and manufacturer warranties. In the release, ARA strongly urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to take swift action in response to what appears to be automotive man- ufacturers’ coordinated efforts to force recycled original equipment manufac- turer (OEM) parts out of the market. “We understand that the revisions to Hyundai’s policy statements come in response to an April 9 letter from the FTC expressing concern that warranty language on a Hyundai website aimed at consumers could be a violation of the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act, which clearly spells out that the use of recycled parts does not void warranty coverage,” said ARA Interim CEO Sandy Blalock. “While ARA applauded the FTC’s action in April, unfortunately, the revised lan- guage published by Hyundai continues to purposefully mis-characterize recycled OEM parts and mislead consumers. We believe that a full investigation by the FTC is still needed,” said Blalock. ARA has met several times with the FTC to protect the industry’s position in the replacement parts market and discuss concerns that auto manufac- turers have become more aggressive in their attacks on the use of recycled OEM parts. OEMs have launched these attacks by releasing position statements, repair specifications and procedures that are both biased and based on weak or no ap- parent scientific research claiming that genuine recycled OEM parts are inferior to new OEM parts.

Please visit the ARA homepage to read the full statement: www.a-r-a.org. ARA

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Announcing the Automotive Recycling Career Zone Website!

RA and the ARA Educational Foun- dation are proud to an- nounce the launch of

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the Automotive Recycling Career Zone website, www.araef.org. The importance of automotive recycling career recruitment and a career path for the industry has been identified as a priority among the membership, and ARA and the Educational Foundation are listening. The ARA Educational Foun- dation funded the building of the AR Career Zone website for both job seekers and employer job listings. Also on the site are career resources like “How to Create an Effective Resumé,” and “How to Ace an Interview.”

ARA member employers can now list jobs for free and reach over 17,000 poten- tial employees through the AR Career Zone’s beneficial partnership with the job website SP2 (www.sp2.org). Put your job listings on http://www.araef.org today!

urges all members to share this press re- lease with customers, business partners, and other colleagues to help hold auto manufacturers accountable for their at- tacks on recycled OEM parts utilization.

Auto Dealers Win Auto Lending Practices Issue

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n a win for the nation’s auto dealers, President Trump recently signed into law a bill repealing guidelines by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) addressing lending practices. The guidelines attempted to address “... steps that lenders should take to address discrimination by auto dealers, who often determine the terms for car loans that they help facilitate for their customers.” Congressional proponents of the roll- back felt that the CFPB overstepped their jurisdictional mandate and did not follow formal rule-making process- es. Opponents of the move argued that the President was “...turning his back on consumers by giving auto dealers license to discriminate against minorities.”

Trump Imposes Tariffs On Imported Steel and Aluminum From Canada, Mexico and the European Union

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resident Trump recently announced that the “United States has been taken advantage of for many decades on trade” and he imposed a 25 percent tariff on im- ported steel and 20 percent on imported aluminum from Canada, Mexico and the European Union. The reaction and retal- iation was swift. Canada announced it will impose a surtax of $12.8 billion on U.S. steel, aluminum, coffee, candy, pizza and quiche. Mexico announced that it would tax imported pork bellies, apples, cran- berries, grapes, certain cheeses and some steel. The EU had previously published a ten-page list of possible retaliatory prod- ucts including American bourbon and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The automotive industry is obviously impacted by the current threats and as recent as May the Administration also opened a trade investigation into vehi- cle imports. In addition, a statement by

July-August 2018 • AUTOMOTIVE RECYCLING