Caterpillar Inc. has laid off 120 temporary workers at a plant in Texas after deciding to cut production after a decline in sales caused by President Trump’s trade war with China, Reuters has reported. The layoff at Caterpillar’s hydraulic excavator facility in Victoria, Texas, were confirmed to Reuters this week by a Caterpillar spokeswoman.
The production facility had about 620 employees, the spokeswoman said.
Last month, Caterpillar said it would take steps to cut production after sales declined across all product segments and in most regions during the third quarter.
Revenues in North America declined almost 3 percent, while sales in Asia-Pacific dipped 13 percent because of decreased demand in China.
Caterpillar said that trade tensions made customers wary of committing to large capital expenditures. The company lowered its full-year profit outlook and said it expected lower sales this year as a result of the trade dispute.
While the spokeswoman didn’t say whether additional labor reductions were on the horizon, she did tell Reuters the company would take action to align production with demand.
Reuters also quote a report from the International Monetary Fund last month warning that the U.S.-China trade war will cut global growth to its slowest pace since the 2008-2009 worldwide recession.
Last month Deere & Co. announced indefinite layoffs for 163 manufacturing workers. And in September, analysts at Moody’s estimated the trade war has cost almost 300,000 jobs in the United States.
