Former President Donald Trump threatened John Deere with a 200% tariff if the agricultural equipment supplier followed through on plans to move some production to Mexico.
“I love the company, but as you know, they announced a few days ago that they're going to move most of their manufacturing business to Mexico,” Trump said Monday at a roundtable with farmers and manufacturers in Pennsylvania.
“I'm notifying John Deere right now: If you do this, we will put a 200% tariff on everything you sell in the United States.”
Trump said the shift in manufacturing to Mexico was hurting “our farmers” and “our manufacturing,” as did John Deere Hundreds of workers were laid off It will be installed at plants in Iowa and Illinois this year.
“They think they'll make the products cheaper in Mexico and then sell them at the same price as before, making a lot of money by getting rid of our labor and our jobs,” the Republican presidential candidate said.
In June, the tractor giant — founded more than 150 years ago — announced it was acquiring land in Ramos, Mexico, to build a new plant.
John Deere said it will shift part of its production from its Dubuque Works plant in Iowa to the Ramos facility by the end of 2026.
John Deere shares rose 1.2% on Tuesday morning after falling about 1% on Monday.
A John Deere spokesman told the Post that the company has been operating in Mexico since the 1950s.
A John Deere spokesman directed The Post’s inquiries about production changes to a company spokesman. “Commitment to American Manufacturing.”
“To equip our U.S. factories to perform these highly value-adding activities, it is sometimes necessary to move less complex functions, such as cab assembly, to other locations,” the company’s pledge states.
Billionaire investor and “Shark Tank” personality Mark Cuban, a staunch supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, dismissed Trump’s tariff threat.
“Good way to destroy a well-known American company and raise costs for American buyers,” Cuba wrote on X,
During the Pennsylvania roundtable, Trump also vowed to impose similarly high tariffs on automakers that make cars in Mexico.
“We are going to impose heavy tariffs on cars that are coming here at a cost of Rs 100.”[%] “If you put in a 200% rate, they're no longer going to be competitive — so you're better off staying in Michigan,” he said.
