Claas plans to move some of the manufacturing done at its Omaha plant back to Germany to avoid steel and aluminum tariffs, reports Nebraska Public Media.
The company said it will move production of the 2026 model year Lexion 8000 back to Germany because the combines are largely sold in the Canadian market and moving production will allow Claas to avoid 50% reciprocal Canadian tariffs on steel and aluminum.
A Claas spokesperson told Nebraska Public Media that no layoffs are planned for the Omaha plant, which employees more than 250 people.
According to the article:
Ernie Goss, an economics professor at Creighton University, said the move by CLAAS, “represents the outcome of the random application of tariffs.”
“This is just one example of the difficulty and folly of raising tariffs haphazardly to reduce the U.S. trade deficit,” Goss said.
He said there are three main reasons it makes sense to levy tariffs: to protect new industries, to protect intellectual property and to incentivize negotiations to reduce overall tariffs on all products.
“Tariffs on imported steel and aluminum meet none of the three requirements,” Goss said.
During the Farm Progress Show Aug. 26-28, 2025, Claas CEO Jan-Hendrik Mohr said the German manufacturer is committed long-term to the North American market, as can be seen by the launch of its new Jaguar 1000 series forage harvester in the U.S. Mohr says the U.S. is the largest forage harvester market.
That same week, Claas also announced the groundbreaking on a new 44,800 square foot Research and Development Center in Omaha. At the Farm Progress Show, Mohr stressed the new R&D center has nothing to do with tariffs and said Claas is here in the U.S. “for the long-term.’
