Former President Donald Trump threatened farm equipment supplier John Deere with a staggering 200% tariff on Monday, warning the company against relocating its manufacturing jobs to Mexico if he is reelected.
Speaking at a farming event in rural Pennsylvania, Trump addressed a variety of issues facing the American agricultural sector, emphasizing the need to defend farmers’ way of life and “protect our food from China.” Remarking on the tractors parked behind him, the former president turned his attention to the subject of jobs leaving the country.
“I just noticed behind me John Deere tractors. I know a lot about John Deere, I love the company,” Trump said. “But as you know, they’ve announced a few days ago that they’re going to move a lot of their manufacturing business to Mexico.”
He continued: “I’m just notifying John Deere right now, if you do that, we’re putting a 200 percent tariff on everything you want to sell into the United States, so that if I win John Deere is going to be paying a 200 percent — they haven’t started it yet. Maybe they haven’t even made the final decision yet. But I think they have.”
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As Valuetainment reported in June, John Deere announced a wave of layoffs at its facilities in Iowa and Illinois, the latest in a series of staffing cuts that have affected over 1,000 employees throughout the Midwest. At the same time, the company unveiled plans for a new manufacturing plant in Ramos, Mexico, which should be operational by 2026. Additional production previously done in the US will also be transferred to Mexico in the coming years.
John Deere has yet to respond to Trump’s threatened tariffs, but shares in the company dropped roughly 2% in aftermarket trading on Monday, then rebounded by 1.7% on Tuesday morning.
Related: John Deere Ends DEI Initiatives and “Socially Motivated Messages” After Customer Backlash
Though Trump has threatened similar protective tariffs in the past as a way to entice manufacturing jobs back to the US, experts have suggested that legislation from Trump’s first term in office could undermine his threat to John Deere. According to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which Trump signed as a replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), high tariffs cannot be placed on goods shipped to the US from either neighboring country.
Trump has not addressed how he might circumvent these restrictions to prevent further job losses.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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