Trump vows to impose tariffs on John Deere to keep jobs in US

Former President Donald Trump threatened U.S. agricultural machinery maker Deere & Co. with heavy tariffs if the company moves its production to Mexico during an event on American farmers and trade.

“I’m notifying John Deere right now that if you do this, we will put a 200% tariff on everything you sell in the United States,” Trump said Monday, citing reports the company is moving its manufacturing to Mexico.

Deere said earlier this year it would lay off 503 workers in Illinois and 310 in Iowa as it faces rising operating costs and a drop in demand. It is also acquiring land in Mexico to shift some production it already does in the U.S.

Deere shares rose 1.7% in early trading in New York on Tuesday, after falling more than 2% in after-market trading on Monday following Trump’s comments.

The world’s largest agricultural machinery maker, which also has operations in South America and Europe, is an iconic American firm with its green and yellow tractors. Moline, Illinois-based Deere said in a statement that it is committed to American manufacturing with a $2 billion investment in domestic plants since 2019.

Trump’s comments came at a forum in Pennsylvania focused on threats to American producers as he tries to shore up support in the key battleground state. In addition to warning Deere, Trump accused China of failing to honor a deal to buy $50 billion worth of U.S. agricultural exports and said he would raise the matter with Chinese President Xi Jinping if Republicans return to the White House.

“My first call, I’ll call President Xi and say you have to honor the deal you made,” Trump said. “You made a deal, you’ll buy $50 billion worth of American agricultural products. And I guarantee you he’ll buy it, 100%, he’ll buy it.”

As president, Trump struck a so-called “phase one” trade deal with China in early 2020, under which the U.S. reduced some tariffs in exchange for China pledging to increase its purchases of U.S. exports, including $50 billion worth of agricultural products. But actual purchases fell short of that pledge, with China importing less than 60% of promised goods and services — including food, energy and manufactured products — by December 2021, according to a study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

The Republican presidential candidate on Monday attacked President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris — his November election rival — saying the current administration has failed to implement the agreement.

China, the world’s second-largest economy, has emerged as a top target in the presidential race between Trump and Harris as both candidates vow to take a tough stance against Beijing and its growing military and economic influence.

Monday’s event was organized by the Protecting America Initiative, a group that describes itself as “committed to countering Chinese influence” in the U.S. Its senior advisers include former ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell and former U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin, both of whom joined Trump for the discussion.

The former president heard from farmers about the challenges they face, and used the occasion to promise that he would impose tariffs on both America’s allies and adversaries if he won a second term in the White House.

Trump has vowed to impose a 60% tariff on China and threatened a 100% tariff on Chinese cars made in Mexico – part of a sweeping agenda that would cripple global trade. As president, Trump imposed tariffs on more than $300 billion worth of Chinese goods.

Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio, in a letter to Deere Chief Executive Officer John May in August, urged the company to prioritize American workers.

Harris is expected to broadly follow Biden’s approach of “deep diplomacy,” keeping communications open with Beijing and highlighting areas where the nations can cooperate even as the administration looks to make the U.S. more competitive with China and restrict its access to cutting-edge technologies with national security implications.

Over the weekend, Biden hosted the Quad Leaders Summit in Delaware, attended by the prime ministers of India, Australia and Japan, part of an effort to strengthen ties with US allies in the Indo-Pacific as a counterweight to China. During one hot mic moment, Biden was heard telling other leaders that China was “testing” the US and its allies in the region.

Earlier: China is ‘testing us all’, Biden says at Indo-Pacific summit

The Biden administration has taken a number of steps this year to crack down on China, including finalizing new tariffs on Chinese goods, banning de minimis exemptions for Chinese shipments of cheaper products and curbing shipments of steel and aluminum from China and elsewhere through Mexico.

“Donald Trump used the White House to subsidize wealthy corporations and foreign companies at the expense of family farmers, push farm bankruptcies to record levels, and sacrifice small American farmers as pawns in his failed trade war with China,” Harris campaign spokesman Joseph Costello said in a statement Monday.

Earlier: Harris said Trump sold us out to China, criticized praise for Xi Jinping

With assistance from Stephanie Lai and Michael Hertzer.

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