Trump is supposed to participate in a roundtable on farming in Pennsylvania, but he does not like the American company John Deere.
Trump spent a lot of time talking about China, and touted the trade deal he never made:
Trump claims to have made a $50 billion deal for China to buy agricultural products.
China has never bought any of these products in the two years that Trump has been president. Trump exaggerated the impact of the deal for farmers.Check the facts: https://t.co/hSHWE5ubpY pic.twitter.com/ogR0MCHvDy
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) September 23, 2024
The big moment came when Trump all alone attack John Deere:
Unprovoked In Pennsylvania, Trump attacked John Deere, “I’m telling John Deere now. If you do that, we’ll give you a 200% tariff on everything you want to sell to the United States. So if I win, John Deere will pay 200%. pic.twitter.com/sPbm4MWFSR
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) September 23, 2024
Trump said:
Behind me. John Deere tractors. I know a lot about John Deere. I like the company, but as you know, they announced a few days ago that they will be moving a lot of their manufacturing business to Mexico. I’m just telling John Deere now. If you do, we will give you a 200% rate on everything you want to sell to the United States. So if I win, John Deere will pay me 200% which I haven’t started yet. Maybe they haven’t made a final decision yet. But I think they have, uh, John Deere will and whoever does this because it’s hurting our farmers, hurting our manufacturers. And if you do, they have a 200% tariff put on products made in Mexico across the border.
They think they will make the product cheaper in Mexico and then sell it at the same price as before. Making a lot of money by taking away our labor and our jobs and, and a great name because John Deere is a great name. I bought a lot of awesome John Deere. I am one of the big customers. I buy a lot of John Deere products as a private person.
But if they’re going to do it, we’re going to put a 200% tariff on everything that we want to send back to the United States, which means one of two things, our country is going to get a lot of money or they’re not going to build it, they’re not going to open it and, or they’re going to sell to other countries, they have the right to do that. If they want to build in the country and the United States, there is no tariff. You can go ahead and you can build in one of the 50 countries, you can go ahead. But if they don’t want to do it, we’ll put a 200% tariff on John Deere and you know what’s going to happen. They will announce very quickly if they think I will win or if I win, they will announce that they will not build in Mexico.
John Deere Has Made Products Outside of the United States
A fact check from KWQC about John Deere moving to Mexico states:
John Deere is an international company with factories, facilities and offices in more than 30 countries and 40,000 employees around the world.
They’re not moving jobs from the Quad City to another factory — but they’re building a new facility in Mexico that will be ready in 2026.
The plant will make mid-frame skid steer loaders and compact trackloaders. The machines are made at the Dubuque Works, and some jobs will be moved to Mexico. However, the number of jobs has not been released.
Trump Threatens Corporate America
John Deere is building a new factory. The company already has factories and international offices. Donald Trump wants to be President of the United States, but instead of protecting American companies, Trump is threatening.
Trump still doesn’t know if John Deere won’t pay the tariffs. These rates will be paid by consumers who purchase John Deere products.
Farmers may not know it, but Donald Trump is not only a threat to John Deere, he is also a threat to the survival of the economy.
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Professional Awards and Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association
