Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Monday that if elected president of the United States, he would impose a 200% tariff on all John Deere imports to the U.S. if the company moves ahead with plans to move part of its production to Mexico.
John Deere, known for their kelly green tractors and leaping deer logo, in June announced plans to shift production of certain equipment from factories in Iowa and Illinois to Mexico by the end of 2026, amid a hefty round of layoffs.
Unprovoked In Pennsylvania, Trump attacks John Deere, “I’m notifying John Deere right now. If you do that, we’re putting a 200% tariff on everything that you want to sell into the United States. So that if I win, John Deere is going to be paying a 200%.” pic.twitter.com/sPbm4MWFSR
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) September 23, 2024
Trump made the comments while meeting with farmers at a campaign event in Smithton, Pennsylvania. Polls show that U.S. presidential candidates Trump and Kamala Harris are virtually tied in the state, a race that analysts say is likely to determine the election’s outcome.
“As you know, [John Deere] announced a few days ago that they are going to move a lot of their manufacturing business to Mexico,” Trump said. “I am just notifying John Deere right now that if you do that, we are putting a 200% tariff on everything that you want to sell into the United States.”
The company’s stock wobbled following the candidate’s comments, falling 1.5% in after-hours trading before making up most of the losses on Tuesday.
John Deere currently has production plants in Ramos Arizpe, Saltillo and Torreón, Coahuila, as well as in Monterrey, Nuevo León. It also has its own dedicated export lane in the Laredo-Colombia International Bridge, which connects Nuevo León to Texas.
The Ramos Arizpe facility will take over the manufacturing of certain types of machinery formerly made in the United States, the newspaper Vanguardia reported in July.
Tariffs were a focus of Trump’s economic strategy during his presidency, and form a central part of his economic plan for if he wins the upcoming U.S. election. Though designed to protect U.S. jobs from being taken overseas, economists warn that the plan to smack tariffs on certain imports could lead to widespread inflation.
Earlier this year, Trump also threatened 100% tariffs against cars made in Mexico by Chinese companies.
President Joe Biden also implemented a tariff on steel and aluminum imports from Mexico in July, in an effort to prevent Chinese evasion of tariffs. Vice President Harris, in her campaign for president, has expressed her support of tariffs as a tool to protect American workers but has not proposed any specific measures beyond those put forth by President Biden.
Mexico itself has also recently implemented tariffs against China. In April, President López Obrador issued a presidential decree levying tariffs of 5% to 50% on more than 500 Chinese products.
With reports from Vanguardia, El Universal and Reuters
