Farm and Garden Machinery Wholesalers NAICS 423820

Apr 6, 2025 - Tariffs to Raise Production Costs/Prices

• The Trump administration’s 25% import tariff on steel and aluminum – key inputs in farm machinery – threaten to push already high prices for farm machinery even higher, as manufacturers seek to recoup higher input costs by raising prices. Historical data from the 2018 trade war shows that similar tariffs led to a 78% increase in domestic equipment production costs, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. Such cost increases could affect manufacturers and farmers alike, with farmers already facing significant financial pressures. Over the last three decades, the price of 200-hp tractors has risen by 287%, far outpacing inflation, while 300-hp tractors have seen a 275% increase. Trump’s metals tariffs imposed in March – along with other tariffs – could present new financial challenges for the agriculture industry, including depressing sales for farm machinery wholesalers as stressed farmers delay or forego new equipment purchases.
• Dealers of large agricultural equipment are facing elevated risks due to low commodity prices and the current tough economic climate facing farmers, the North American Equipment Dealers Association (NAEDA) warns. In January, NAEDA reported an uptick in customer delinquencies and a corresponding increase in issues with customers' trade-ins. Beyond the obvious blunder of overpaying for a trade-in, dealers need to be aware of the legal risk associated with liens on trade-ins. Any liens a bank has on such equipment remain attached to the trade-in after the dealer takes title. If the bank comes after the dealer for the amount of the lien, the business gets hit twice – first, by giving the customer credit for the trade-in value by reducing the purchase price for new equipment and second, by turning over the trade-in to the bank (or paying the bank cash of approximately the same amount), according to NAEDA.

• Falling crop prices and rising input costs are causing farmers to cut back on spending, sending shocks throughout the US agriculture sector and leading The Wall Street Journal to proclaim in a December headline “America’s Farm Recession is Here.” The downturn in the ag economy, which began in 2023 when net farm income tumbled 20% and again by about 4% in 2024, follows record setting income for farmers in 2022 fueled by soaring grain prices due to the pandemic and war in Ukraine, according to the USDA. “The ag industry is continuing to get weaker,” Damon Audia, CFO for agricultural machinery manufacturer Agco, told investors in December. Companies throughout the agriculture sector are bracing for a shrinking farm economy by cutting costs or laying off workers. As their incomes decline, farmers may delay or forgo purchasing big ticket items like tractors and other expensive farm machinery, causing distributors’ inventories to rise.
• Employment by farm and garden machinery wholesalers shrank 3.9% in January compared to a year ago while the average industry wage jumped 9.2% over the same period to a new high of $31.96 per hour, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Producer prices for machinery and supply wholesalers increased 3.9% year over year in December to near record highs after falling 0.8% YoY in the previous December-versus-December annual comparison, BLS data shows. Sales for the US farm and garden machinery wholesalers industry are forecast to grow at a 3.73% compounded annual rate from 2025 to 2029, slower than the growth of the overall economy, according to the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc.