President Donald Trump said Monday that his administration is planning to address the cost of farming equipment by easing regulatory burdens on equipment manufacturers.
Trump made the comments during a roundtable about issues affecting the U.S. agriculture industry, including the administration’s plan to provide a roughly $12 billion bailout to farmers affected by trade disruptions related to tariffs.
“The other thing I’d like to add… and I think it’s very important, we’re going to also give the tractor companies, John Deere and all of the companies that make the equipment, we’re going to take off a lot of the environmental restrictions they have on machinery.”
“It’s ridiculous. I know because I buy a lot of that machinery for different things. We have a lot of big clubs with hundreds, thousands of acres, and I buy a lot of stuff,” the president added.
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Trump said that the higher equipment costs stem from environmental regulations requiring the inclusion of more technology aimed at things like reducing emissions or conserving energy.
“You buy it and it’s got so much equipment on it for the environment that doesn’t do anything, except it makes the equipment much more expensive and much more complicated to work, and it’s not as good as the old days,” Trump said.
“We’re going to take a lot of that nonsense off of the equipment… and we’re going to do it, and we’re going to say you’re going to reduce the prices,” the president said. “Farming equipment has gotten too expensive, and a lot of the reason is because they put these environmental excesses on the equipment which don’t do a damn thing except make it complicated, make it impractical.”
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| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE | DEERE & CO. | 466.35 | -8.76 | -1.84% |
The president said that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will work with the Department of Agriculture (USDA) on easing those environmental regulations on agricultural equipment manufacturers.
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John Deere responded to an inquiry about the president’s comments and told FOX Business that the company is “proud to serve and stand with our strong and resilient customers.”
“John Deere shares the Administration’s focus on reducing costs for our nation’s agricultural producers and consumers. We are doing all we can to help U.S. farmers reduce input costs,” the company said.
“The equipment and technologies Deere makes here in the U.S. are giving American farmers new tools and technologies that can substantially reduce their input costs and labor costs while increasing yields, boosting their margins,” it said.
John Deere added that it stands ready to continue to work with the Trump administration and Congress to “advance policies that support the rural economy through challenging cycles.”
