JCB faces hundreds of millions in losses as US expands tariffs on British machinery exports

JCB, Britains largest privately owned engineering firm, has sounded the alarm after a dramatic escalation in US tariffs on exports could cost the company hundreds of millions of pounds. The Trump administration has moved unexpectedly to broaden its 25 per cent tariffs on British steel and aluminium components to include finished goods, catching UK manufacturers off guard and threatening the competitiveness of iconic British brands in the American market.

Chief executive Graeme Macdonald described the new tariffs as punitive, impacting all 30000 diggers and construction machines that JCB exports to the United States every year. Macdonald added that JCB had previously anticipated only a modest impact of around three million dollars under the earlier regime, but the widened tariffs would now stretch across their entire US-bound inventory. Britains Department for Business and Trade was reportedly blindsided by the announcement.

These changes strike at the heart of an industry that has already invested heavily in American manufacturing. Two years ago, JCB committed to building a new plant in San Antonio Texas, designed to produce 20000 machines annually and to bolster export capacity from its Midlands bases toward Europe and the Middle East. That facility is set to open next year, intended to nurture jobs both sides of the Atlantic. Ironically, the new tariffs may also affect a recently awarded contract worth forty five million dollars for JCB to supply backhoe loaders to the US Marine Corps out of its Staffordshire factory.

UK officials maintain a diplomatic optimism. Thanks to the ongoing UK US trade deal, British exporters have so far avoided steeper 50 per cent tariffs facing rival steel and aluminium goods from other countries. The Department for Business and Trade pledged to press the US for further concessions, aiming to secure the same tariff exemptions granted to RollsRoyce for its aeroengines and to protect British industry and employment.

JCBs largest customer remains Ashtead, the Londonlisted American plant hire titan. With these much broader US tariffs now threatening the core of its transatlantic trade, JCB and other exporters are urging ministers to begin immediate negotiations for relief before critical contracts and jobs move offshore.

As geopolitical trade tensions intensify, UK manufacturers must navigate a new era in global commerce where swift and unpredictable policy changes can upend even the most carefully laid international investment strategies.