Donald Trump Threatens John Deere With 200% Tariffs If It Moves Manufacturing To Mexico

Former president Donald Trump threatened John Deere with a 200% tariff if the agriculture machinery maker goes through with a plan to move some production to Mexico.

Trump said it at an event hosted by the Protecting America Initiative in Smithton, Pennsylvania.

"I just noticed behind me John Deere tractors. I know a lot about John Deere, I love the company," Trump said. "As you know, they've announced a few days ago that they're going to move a lot of their manufacturing business to Mexico."

"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 said. "So if I win, John Deere is going to be paying a 200% tariff.

During the campaign, Trump has made tariffs one of his key economic policies.

Layoffs were carried out recently at John Deere's facilities in Iowa following an announcement that the company is making plans to shift the production of some of its models to Mexico.

Trump claims that the move hurts American farmers.

John Deere says it has committed $2.5 billion to enhance U.S. manufacturing facilities since 2019 but earlier this year it announced that it was laying off hundreds of employees in the Midwest and increasing its production in Mexico.

Trump also targeted automakers that manufacture cars in Mexico.

"We're going to put big tariffs on those cars that are coming in here at 100[%] to 200%, and they're no longer going to be competitive," said Trump.