Trump tariffs mean fewer machinery purchases, higher costs for farmers

Ag equipment manufacturers had hoped to see sales volumes start to recover this year from the current slump, but those high expectations have been lowered by the negative yo-yo impact of U.S. tariff rates — and those tariffs will end up costing farmers in North America more for new machinery and parts, even here in Canada.

Among the many changing justifications for those tariffs proffered by U.S. officials was the desire to re-shore manufacturing across all industries back to that country. But the widespread market uncertainty caused by the tariff war initiated be very successful in the near term.

Agco, for one, revealed it will not make any immediate major changes to its global manufacturing footprint despite — or, ironically, because of — the U.S. tariffs.

During a quarterly earnings call in early May, Agco CEO Eric Hansotia said the company regularly evaluates where best to manufacture equipment. But it’s holding off making any significant changes for now.

“We’ve looked at that even before the tariffs. We actually look at it every year for our overall footprint, to understand what market demand is looking like and where is the best place to produce. It’s a natural thing we do annually.