Comment – the inevitable

And no, before you ask I’m not going to mention ‘you know what’. Well not just yet.

Now that the lambing is slowly petering out, I’m in a position to get back to the most important news. Yes, the rain gauge, so having swept the dust out of the wheelbarrow for March 25, the monthly total is 47mm, yes, an all time low since records began (2021) and less than a third of the five year average. As my Uncle Bill would say, ‘I need to get some corn in, but it doesn’t want to be thirsty’. Indeed.

Did you really think that this week I would ignore ‘Liberation day’?

Well there is a mixed bag of reaction to the tariff announcements from Wednesday by the US Government, but some concrete news as follows: JCB are doubling down on their new Savannah, Georgia factory investment and upping its size, in order to maximise their exposure to the largest construction market in the world. Closer to home JLR are pausing shipments of vehicles to the USA to evaluate the impact of the tariffs,  and US newsrooms report that CNH are pausing shipments with the company saying “We are stopping shipments from North America plants and European imports effective today. This is a temporary move until we assess the full impact of planned tariffs on pricing. There are no impacts to production, and parts shipments continue as planned. We will continue to monitor the situation.” See here for the full story.

Behind the scenes there must be European (& UK)  manufacturers (particularly car companies) who are pushing their governments hard now to find a solution, particularly if you consider the differential between say the UK’s 10% and the EU’s 25% tariffs. Of course as a UK based manufacturer, this does offer some competitive advantage vs an EU manufacturer now.  Although with limited global engineering now based in the UK (bar Basildon and JCB in Staffs), we are not that well positioned to take advantage of this.

Anyway my best advice is to get out there and make the most of this glorious weather. The news will still be waiting on your return!

Have a good week,

Andy