In response to increased tariffs announced April 2 by President Trump, JCB says it will increase the size of its new factory being built in Texas.
“In the short term, the imposition of tariffs will have a significant impact on our business,” said JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald in making the announcement for the England-based equipment manufacturer. “However, in the medium term, our planned factory in San Antonio will help to mitigate the impact. We are thankful that the tariff is only 10%, and we can only hope that the UK Government will conclude negotiations on a trade deal in the coming days and weeks.”
Trump used “emergency powers” to issue a 10% baseline tariff across the board on all imports to the U.S., which is set to take effect April 5. Higher tariffs are set for countries with larger trade surpluses with the U.S., like China at 54% higher and the European Union at 20% higher. The UK left the European Union in 2020.
In JCB’s news release today it said its "original plan" of a 500,000-square-foot plant in San Antonio has now been increased to 1 million square feet. (A previous announcement of the plant’s groundbreaking in June had said the plant would span 720,000 square feet and be the company’s second-largest factory.)
The $500 million plant is set to begin production next year and employ 1,500 people. The company’s North America headquarters is currently in Savannah, Georgia, where it has been for 25 years and employs about 1,000 people. That 500,000-square-foot facility makes skid steer loaders, compact track loaders and Teleskids. It also builds the High Mobility Engineer Excavator and Light Capability Rough Terrain Forklift for the U.S. military and other NATO-aligned forces.
“JCB has been in business for 80 years this year, and we are well accustomed to change,” said JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford. “The United States is the largest market for construction equipment in the world, and President Trump has galvanized us into evaluating how we can make even more products in the USA, which has been an important market for JCB since we sold our first machine there in 1964.”
The new San Antonio factory will manufacture Loadall telescopic handlers and aerial access equipment, specifically for customers in North America, JCB has said.
