Former President Donald Trump, speaking in front of two John Deere tractors on Monday, said he would impose 200% tariffs on products imported into the United States if the company moved its manufacturing to Mexico.
Trump's promise to protect American manufacturing jobs came during a roundtable discussion in Smithton, Pennsylvania, with farmers, former acting national security director Rick Grenell, Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick and former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-New York).
“I notice a John Deere tractor behind me. I know a lot about John Deere. I love this company. But as you all know, they announced a few days ago that they were moving a lot of their manufacturing operations to Mexico,” Trump said.
“I've just put John Deere on notice that if they do this, I will impose a 200% tariff on any products they want to sell into the United States,” Trump warned.
John Deere is preparing to cut jobs at its plants in East Moline, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa, announcing hundreds of job cuts in June that would take effect on Aug. 30, Breitbart News reported.
“They haven't started on it yet. Maybe they haven't even finalized it yet, but I think they've already started,” he said.
President Trump said that because of the negative impacts on American farmers and manufacturing workers, steep tariffs would be imposed on other companies that export manufactured goods to Mexico in search of cheaper labor.
“They think they can make their products cheaply in Mexico, sell them at the same price as before and make a lot of money by eliminating our labor and our jobs,” he stressed.
Trump, who has praised the company's products and said he buys them as a civilian, said tariffs on John Deere would lead to one of two outcomes.
President Trump said either the US would make a lot of money from the tariffs or John Deere would not open a factory in Mexico. He noted there was a third option: to manufacture in Mexico and sell to other countries that don't impose tariffs.
President Trump noted that there would be no tariffs on products made domestically.
“You know what's going to happen? They're going to announce very soon if they think I'm going to win. Or if I win, they're going to announce that they're not going to build in Mexico,” he said.
