JCB’S new USA plant to double in size in wake of Trump’s tariffs

JCB is set to double the size of a new factory currently under construction in Texas, as the company confirmed that newly-announced tariffs will affect its business in the short term.

JCB has been manufacturing in the USA for 50 years and last year bought 400 acres of land in San Antonio after it said it recognised the need to produce more machines in North America, where the company’s existing manufacturing plant in Savannah, Georgia, has operated for 25 years and employs around 1,000 people.

The original plan for a 500,000 square feet factory in San Antonio has now been revised and JCB is forging ahead with plans to double its size to one million square feet.

The new $500m plant is due to start production next year and employ up to 1,500 people and will build on JCB’s growth in North America.

'Important market'

JCB chair Anthony Bamford said: “JCB has been in business for 80 years this year and we are well accustomed to change. The United States is the largest market for construction equipment in the world and President Trump has galvanised 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.”

JCB CEO Graeme MacDonald said: “In 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.”