John Deere responds to Trump campaign pledge
At an event held in Smithton, Pa., earlier this week, former president Donald Trump told the audience that, if elected, he plans to clamp down on companies moving operations out of the U.S.
Singling out John Deere, which earlier this summer laid off thousands of workers and shared plans to move some of its manufacturing to Mexico, Trump stated: "I’m just 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." He added: "If they want to build in the United States, there’s no tariff."
In response to the campaign pledge, Deere & Co. is doubling down on its "commitment to U.S. manufacturing," sharing:
- Since 2019, John Deere has invested more than $2 billion in American factories.
- John Deere’s economic impact in our U.S. hometown communities and all those where we have a presence is valued at $27 billion.
- In the U.S., John Deere employs approximately 30,000 people in more than 60 U.S.-based facilities across 16 states. Meanwhile, our John Deere dealers employ over 50,000 people at dealerships across the country and in 2023, the company spent over $16 billion with U.S.-based suppliers.
Explaining the move to Mexico referenced by Trump, Deere states on its site:
- In order to position our U.S. factories to undertake these highly value-additive activities it is sometimes necessary to move less complex operations, such as cab assembly, to other locations. This includes moving the production of some models of our skid steer loaders and compact loaders to our factory in Mexico, a facility that has been an important part of our global operation for nearly 70 years.
- The company deeply values the highly skilled U.S. workforce in our hometown communities that allow John Deere to make the best equipment in the world. In response to challenging market conditions, we have recently taken steps to reduce costs – including workforce reductions. These decisions were difficult; yet, vital for our continued success and competitiveness.
Additionally, in a statement shared with a local Iowa news outlet, Deere clarified its stance, sharing:
- In both FY23 and FY24, less than 5 percent of U.S. sales were manufactured in Mexico.
- More than 75 percent of sales in the U.S. are manufactured in the U.S.
- We are not "moving production" to Mexico as continues to be reported, instead, we’ve strategically leveraged our footprint in Mexico for cab production (that transition was announced in 2022 and is being completed this year) and now mid-size skid steers and CTLS – by 2026.
- We have had a presence in [Mexico] since 1952. It is not unusual for Deere to consider any number of factors when it comes to leveraging our global footprint, as a global business, while building new products in U.S. factories (like See & Spray in Des Moines and the 9RX tractor in Waterloo).
- Layoffs this fiscal year were due to the weakening farm economy in 2024 and a reduction in customer orders for our equipment.
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Readers respond:
"As an International sales agent who sells to Tractor Supply Co, Mid States Dist., Orgill and others, I can personally tell you that duties on imports from China, India, Turkey, Mexico and others will be devastating for both the importer, distributor, retailer and finally the consumer. It is a lose lose solution."
Robert Gutierrez
Slightedge LTD
Hong Kong
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"After reading the article and understanding John Deere’s decision to move some production to a 70-year-old facility in Mexico I’m shocked that Donald Trump does not seem to have even a basic understanding of their business. Him making these types of broad statements that are not fact based will only cause confusion and doesn’t address the issue of how we can create more manufacturing jobs domestically."
Richard Nuttall
Partner
JIAN Group
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