A manufacturer of agricultural equipment is citing tariffs in its decisions about its operations in the U.S.
But rather than expanding its U.S. production, it will instead shift some work overseas.
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CLAAS, a German maker of tractors, harvesters and other farm machinery, operates a factory in Omaha, Nebraska, where it builds its Lexion combine. Rather than remain in the U.S., however, those combines are primarily sold in Canada — which means that the steel and aluminum used to make them in Nebraska are subject to reciprocal tariffs imposed by the Canadian government in response to tariffs levied by the Trump administration.
In order to avoid those import taxes on combines destined for Canada, Nebraska Public Media reports that CLAAS will move production of the 2026 Lexion 8000 to Germany.
Company officials said that CLAAS is continuing to review pre-order data to determine its production requirements in Omaha, but that no layoffs are planned. The company indicated that it is expanding its Nebraska sales and service operations, and NPM noted that the CLAAS just broke ground on a new research and development hub in Omaha this summer.
Still, the move reflects some of the risks of broadly imposing tariffs on manufacturers with complex and wide-ranging global supply chains. Although the White House has argued that tariffs, on the whole, would help bolster domestic manufacturing, most economists warned that it risked sparking trade wars and raising prices; one Creighton University economist told NPM that CLAAS’ move was one example of “the difficulty and folly of raising tariffs haphazardly.”
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