Former Vice President Mike Pence criticized U.S. tariff policy under President Donald Trump, after agricultural equipment maker Deere & Co. (NYSE:DE) announced that it would be laying off 238 workers across its three factories in Iowa, citing tariffs and lower commodity costs.
DE shares are experiencing downward pressure. Get the complete picture here.
‘Time To Get Back To Free Trade’
On Monday, in a post on X, Pence highlighted the growing tariff pressures on American companies such as John Deere by quoting its director of investor relations, Josh Beal, who said, “Tariff costs in the quarter were approximately $200 million, which brings us to roughly $300 million in tariff expense year to date.”
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Pence says that it is “American Companies and American Consumers” who pay the cost of “American tariffs,” adding that it was “Time to Get Back to Free Trade with Free Nations!”
Pence, who served as Trump’s Vice President during his first term, has repeatedly warned in recent weeks that the tariffs are harming American manufacturers while driving up costs for consumers.
Trump’s Tariffs Are A Tax
Several other prominent experts, analysts and economists have echoed Pence’s concerns on tariffs, that they are a tax on American companies and consumers.
Fund manager Peter Boockvar, the CIO at Bleakley Financial Group, said that they are essentially a “$500 billion” tax on American businesses, which essentially undoes Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which he says he “was a big fan of.”
Investor Kevin O’Leary recently stated that the tariffs were America’s version of a value-added tax. “He calls this a tariff,” O’Leary says, referring to Trump, adding that “the Europeans and the Canadians call theirs VAT. Who cares what it’s called? It’s a tax,” he says.
According to Ross Gerber, the CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, not only are tariffs a form of tax, but they are a regressive form of taxation that disproportionately impacts households with lower disposable incomes. He says, the tariffs move “the cost of taxes from the rich to the rest of America.”
Shares of John Deere were down 1.63% on Monday, closing at $487.90, but are up 0.29% after hours. The stock scores high on Momentum in Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, with a favorable price trend in the Medium and Long terms. Click here for deeper insights into the stock, its peers, and competitors.
Photo Courtesy: Gino Santa Maria on Shutterstock.com
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