By Bob Tita
Deere & Co. Chief Executive John May said the tractor maker is in a strong position to confront potential tariffs under the incoming Trump administration, since Deere exports more farm and landscaping equipment from the U.S. than it imports from other countries.
Trump has pledged to impose sweeping tariffs on imported items to encourage companies to manufacture more products in the U.S. Deere attracted Donald Trump's ire on the campaign trail this fall after the Illinois-based company said in June it would move production of some models of small and medium-size construction loaders to a plant in Mexico from Dubuque, Iowa.
Deere in 2022 decided to move production of cabs for large farm tractors to Mexico from Waterloo, Iowa, to make room for production of a new tractor model at its Waterloo plant.
Trump threatened to levy a 200% duty on Deere's equipment from Mexico if elected president. Deere's May said Thursday that more than 75% of the products the company sells in the U.S. are assembled in the U.S. at 60 plants with 30,000 employees spread over 16 states.
"We're positioned really well," May said during a conference call. "We rely heavily on our highly skilled employees in the U.S. to design and build the most technologically advanced equipment in the world."
Meanwhile, Deere reported a shallower-than-expected drop in quarterly profit Thursday. Shares gained 9%.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 21, 2024 12:57 ET (17:57 GMT)
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