Staffordshire-based JCB doubles USA factory size due to tariffs
A Staffordshire-based digger firm is planning to ramp up production in the USA after the American administration brought in new levies on imported goods.Bosses at JCB said they had planned for a situation where tariffs would be imposed, and had made preparations to increase production in the USA.It is an important market for the firm, which is headquartered in Rocester.Chief executive officer Graeme Macdonald said:"The north American market is the largest market in the world. To put it into perspective, it is double the size of [the market in] Europe."
He added: "Politics aside, the Trump administration is full of business people."They are business people who are willing to do deals, so I'd encourage our UK government to go and do a deal with the US administration."As part of the company's long-term strategy in America, JCB is doubling the size of its factory in Texas.Work began last June, and production is due to begin next year.The firm already has a plant in Georgia, USA, where it has been based for 25 years.
Bosses at Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce, however, described the current uncertainty around tariffs as "crippling"."People are just really uncertain what it means, and at what point it comes in," said CEO Rachel Laver.It has left some businesses looking to trade more with other countries.Adam Savage from Barkers Fencing, a high security fencing specialist in Stoke-on-Trent, said: "We'll probably adjust our strategy a little bit.""There'll be opportunities in other territories – Canada, for example."He said he could foresee some American companies preferring British-made products to American goods.However, how best to adapt remains a question asked by many business bosses.
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