Pennsylvania farmers cheer Trumps 200% tariff threat on John Deere: They cant be high enough

SMITHTON, Pa.— Former President Donald Trump has threatened to slap tariffs of 200% on John Deere if it moves its production to Mexico — and farmers say it’s about time the company feels the heat.

“It should have been higher,” farmer George Greenwalt told The Post.“Make it to the point that it’s not profitable.

Then they’ll know how a farmer feels.”The Post spoke to several farmers just before Trump barnstormed southwest Pennsylvania’s rural and red districts Monday, where he heard from local farmers and manufacturers wondering how to survive this economy, and in the days following.While there, the ex-prez attended a roundtable to discuss the agricultural industry’s concerns about competition with China but eventually changed gears to another issue facing farmers: John Deere, a giant of the agriculture industry, laying off workers and planning to shift some manufacturing from Iowa to Mexico.“I’m just notifying John Deere right now: If you do that, we’re putting a 200% tariff on everything that you want to sell into the United States,” said Trump, who’s already vowed blanket tariffs up to 20% on all imports into the US, and 60% to 100% on imports from China.John Deere’s move to Mexico, though only partial, has ticked off farmers, who have begun referring to the centuries-old American manufacturer as “Juan Deere.” It’s no surprise Trump’s tariff threat resonated strongly with Pennsylvania farmers — they say they’re tired of being burdened with rising costs.

“They can’t be high enough,” Greenwalt said of the proposed tariffs on John Deere.“We’ve been buying John Deeres for 40 years.

Now they want to move away for a little bit of cost savings,” he added.“The only people who are going to pay for it is the farmers.”“They don’t care about their customers no more,” he said, citing constant software issues with his own John Deere tractor.Before the roundtable began, 50-year-old Greenwalt, a Trump suppo...