Two senators call for US tariff probe into construction and farm equipment

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators, a Democrat and a Republican, urged the Commerce Department on Thursday to launch a national security investigation into the import of heavy construction and farm equipment made in Mexico by companies such as Deere & Co DE.N, Caterpillar CAT.N and CNH Industrial CNH.N.

The push by Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, and Senator Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, comes as the Trump administration prepares for a scheduled review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in July.

The two senators, in a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick seen by Reuters, called for a probe under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which the Trump administration has used for tariffs on steel, autos and other goods.

• They called for changes to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, saying duty-free treatment of heavy equipment imports had incentivized producers to move production to Mexico.

• CNH laid off 222 workers in Racine, Wisconsin, in 2024 while moving production to Mexico, Baldwin said.

• CNH, Deere, Caterpillar and the Commerce Department were not immediately available for comment.

• Baldwin and Moreno urged the probe to cover agricultural implements, construction and mining equipment, forestry equipment, heavy machinery, parts and derivatives.

• U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has imposed 232 tariffs on copper, steel, aluminum, autos, auto parts, timber, furniture and trucks, and is investigating other sectors, such as pharmaceuticals. It is seeking to replace tariffs scuttled by the U.S. Supreme Court under a different law by using the 232 statute and Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.

• Baldwin has been critical of Trump's sweeping tariffs but backs a more targeted approach through statutes like Section 232.

• "These companies should not be allowed to eliminate American jobs, pay Mexican workers poverty wages and then ship products back to the U.S. for additional profit on the backs of our communities," the senators wrote.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

((andrea.shalal@tr.com; +1 202-815-7432;))