JCB says that the new tariffs will cost it hundreds of million of pounds and is pushing for special treatment while the Construction Equipment Association, which represents machinery manufacturers, says that it is in 鈥渦rgent discussions鈥� with the Department for Business & Trade.
This week US president Donald Trump declared that the previously announced 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium components being exported to the USA from Britain would now include all finished goods.
JCB chief executive Graeme Macdonald told that the new tariffs were 鈥減unitive鈥� and unexpected. He said that the expanded Section 232 tariffs would hit all 30,000 of the diggers and construction machines that JCB exports to the US each year, including the $45m consignment of backhoe loaders just recently ordered by the US Marine Corp.
鈥淭he tariffs as they now stand are hugely punitive and they catch every machine that we ship to the US,鈥� Macdonald said. 鈥淚t will make us have to reconsider how we trade with North America.鈥�
JCB has already switched gear once in response to Trump鈥檚 tariffs. In April it announced that the new factory that has under construction in San Antonion, Texas was gong to be double its original size to make even more machines in the USA.聽 聽The new $500m, one million sq ft plant is due to start production of Loadall telehandlers next year.
Back in April Macdonald said: 鈥淚n the short term, the imposition of tariffs will have a significant impact on our business. 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.鈥�
Now that the tariff rate is 25% rather than 10%, he is altogether less phlegmatic.
Viki Bell, chief executive of the Construction Equipment Association, said: 鈥淭he USA is one of the UK sector鈥檚 most important export markets, worth over 拢1.5bn in 2023. By the first half of 2025, shipments were already down by around 40% in value compared with the same period in 2024. With these new tariffs now applying from mid-August, there is a clear risk of further sharp declines if workable solutions are not found.
聽鈥淭he CEA is already in urgent discussions with the Department for Business & Trade and working closely with Make UK and other partners to ensure government hears a clear and united message from industry. We are pressing for clarity on the UK position, for practical compliance routes that reflect the realities of complex machinery, and for exemptions where appropriate. Our immediate focus is to protect UK manufacturers by minimising disruption and additional costs.鈥�
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