Company responds to former president Donald Trump’s tariff threat
By Gretchen Teske, – Quad-City Times
Sep. 26, 2024 12:59 pm
In this April 9, 2019 photo, wheels are attach as workers assemble a tractor at John Deere’s Waterloo assembly plant. (Zach Boyden-Holmes/Telegraph Herald via AP, File)
Moline-based John Deere pushed back Wednesday against former President Donald Trump’s tariff threat by saying it’s not moving production to Mexico.
During a campaign stop in Pennsylvania on Monday, Trump threatened the company with a 200 percent tariff should he win the election and it opted to export manufacturing to Mexico.
Rumors about a move have been swirling this year after Deere laid off thousands of workers. The company previously released a statement on its website committing to U.S. manufacturing and attributing the layoffs to changing agriculture economy conditions in the U.S.
In an email Wednesday, a spokesperson for the company stated less than 5 percent of Deere’s U.S. sales are manufactured in Mexico and more than 75 percent of all sales in the United States are from U.S.-based manufacturing facilities.
“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),” the statement reads. “Layoffs this fiscal year were due to the weakening farm economy in 2024 and a reduction in customer orders for our equipment.”
The spokesperson went on to say Deere is not “moving production to Mexico as continues to be reported, instead, we’ve strategically leveraged our footprint in Mexico for cab production.”
That announcement was made in 2022, affecting approximately 250 jobs at the Waterloo plant. Deere announced the work would be moved to Ramos Component Works in Mexico. That transition will be completed this year. By 2026, Deere will do the same for mid-size skid steers and CTLS.
Also in 2022, workers at the Ottumwa plant learned their work would be done in Monterrey, Mexico.
In a video posted to John Deere’s website, Tami Hedgren, vice president and manufacturing lead for US/Mexico Ag & Turf, said Deere has had to make “tough business decisions” based on economic projections. The USDA has predicted in 2024 net farm income will be down 24 percent, she said, which resulted in the need for layoffs and a reduction in the salaried workforce.
“We do know that in the future this whole economic downturn will turn around, but in the mean time we have to make those tough business decisions to ensure long-term success for customers and our business,” she said.
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Publish date : 2024-09-26 07:00:00
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