Former Republican presidential nominee President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event on the farm, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in Smithton, Pennsylvania.
Alex Brandon AP
Former president Donald Trump on Monday threatened John Deere with a 200% tax if an agricultural producer moves production to factories in Mexico.
“They announced a few days ago that they’re going to move a lot of their business to Mexico,” the Republican nominee said at a policy forum in Smithton, Pa., hosted by the Protecting America Initiative.
“I’m telling John Deere right now: If you do that, we’re going to put a 200% tax on everything you want to sell in the United States,” said Trump, who has made the tax a key part of his campaign. economic policy.
John Deere has announced plans to shift production of some of its models to Mexico, a move that has led to layoffs at facilities in Iowa.
“It’s hurting our farmers. It’s hurting our manufacturing,” Trump said Monday.
Reached by CNBC for comment, John Deere pointed to a page on its website titled “John Deere’s Commitment to American Manufacturing,” where it refers to its investment in American factories and workers.
The page also says, “In order to stop our US factories from doing these high value-added jobs it is sometimes necessary to move less complex jobs, like cab assembly, to other locations.”
Monday appeared to be the first time Trump nominated John Deere. The comments of the former president also seemed to be out of place, inspired only by the John Deere tractors that were placed as the background of the event.
As of 6 pm ET, Deere shares were down 1.7% in after-hours trading after Trump made the threat shortly after Monday’s closing bell.
The former president made similar threats on Monday to automakers that build cars in Mexico.
“We’re going to put a 100 to 200 percent premium on those cars that come in here, and they’re not going to be competitive anymore,” he said, “so you better stay in Michigan.”