JCB faces losses in the hundreds of millions of pounds after the US extended 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium to include finished machines. The expanded tariffs will affect every one of the roughly 30,000 diggers and construction vehicles JCB ships to the US annually. The chief executive described the measures as hugely punitive and said the company must rethink its North American trading strategy. JCB had expected a $3 million hit under the earlier regime but now anticipates far larger losses. The tariffs also apply to a $45 million contract supplying backhoe loaders to the US Marine Corps. JCB had planned a San Antonio plant to produce 20,000 machines a year.
JCB has warned it could lose "hundreds of millions of pounds" after the US government unexpectedly extended tariffs on steel and aluminium to cover finished goods, dealing a blow to one of Britain's best-known engineering firms. The Trump administration confirmed on Monday that the 25 per cent tariffs already applied to components would now include all machines exported to the US containing steel or aluminium. The move is expected to hit every one of the 30,000 diggers and construction vehicles JCB ships across the Atlantic each year.
Graeme Macdonald, JCB's chief executive, described the measures as "hugely punitive" and said they would force the company to rethink its North American strategy. "The tariffs as they now stand are hugely punitive and they catch every machine that we ship to the US," he said. "It will make us have to reconsider how we trade with North America." The impact dwarfs earlier forecasts. JCB had anticipated a $3 million hit under the previously flagged tariff regime, but now expects losses in the hundreds of millions.
Particularly galling for the Staffordshire-based manufacturer is that the tariffs will also apply to a $45 million contract it secured last week to supply backhoe loaders to the US Marine Corps. The blow comes despite JCB's recent pledge to invest in the US by opening a new plant in San Antonio, Texas, capable of producing 20,000 machines a year. The facility, due to open in 2026, was intended to support expansion in North America while freeing UK capacity for exports to Europe and the Middle East.
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