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Trade War Impacts Company With Locations in Our Region

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Roland Machinery

Illinois manufacturers have already been feeling the effects of the trade war that officialy began Friday morning.

Matt Roland is president of Roland Machinery, which sells excavators, road graders and other heavy equipment. The company has locations in Carterville and Cape Girardeau... but Roland says it's also part of the global economy.
"We build machines all over the world and we bring them in from all over the world. ... So it'll affect us, but as long as the economy is strong, we can probably handle it."

Roland says suppliers are raising prices by as much as 25 percent — mainly on the blades and scoops that attach to earthmoving equipment.

“If you go behind this area, you’ll see a bunch of buckets. These buckets are 100 percent steel, so it highly impacts that segment of our industry.”

Roland says as long as the economy remains strong, he thinks his company can weather the trade war.

 

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