--Along with a higher base price.
Nothing is free. Also if you don't want the tailgate applique, the delete is a $0 cost, so you just paid for an option you don't want. I just priced out my exact truck and it is almost $2k more as an 2018 than it was as a 2017.
What 2017 price are you basing it on? My dealer has the exact truck I ordered for 2018 and the price difference was only $400 and some change. If you are basing it on original 2017 MSRP I could see it, but shouldn't be much higher than current.