A 25% tariff on imported medium- and heavy-duty trucks, in force since Nov. 1, 2025, is reshaping where commercial vehicles and components get built, President Donald Trump told workers at Peterbilt Motors' plant in Denton, Texas, on Thursday.

Standing on the factory floor after a tour of the facility, Trump cast the Denton operation as proof the policy works. The plant, part of PACCAR's (Nasdaq: PCAR) North American manufacturing network, builds medium- and heavy-duty trucks, including Class 8 models.

"They asked me to come because you're doing massive expansions. I said, 'How many trucks out of this plant? How many trucks do you do?' I figured they'd say 200 a year; he said, 'No… 200 a day,'" Trump said, according to a transcript of his speech published by Roll Call.

Peterbilt said it has added more than 1,000 jobs at the Denton facility. The administration put the national figure higher, saying PACCAR has added more than 2,000 jobs nationwide since the truck tariffs took effect. Reuters reported the administration's numbers Thursday.

The tariff regime covers imported medium- and heavy-duty trucks and certain parts that do not comply with the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Trump imposed the measures under his America First trade policy, framed in a White House fact sheet as addressing a national security threat from imports of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, parts and buses.

The commercial stakes for carriers and fleets are direct. The tariff raises landed costs on imported trucks and non-USMCA-compliant parts, pushing OEMs toward USMCA-compliant sourcing and U.S.-based assembly. That shift favors domestic producers such as PACCAR, which can point to expansion in Denton as evidence. Fleets shopping for Class 8 equipment, by contrast, face a market where import-dependent price competition is weaker and domestic capacity is expanding — dynamics that could tighten delivery timelines as manufacturers retool.

Trump defended tariffs as an economic tool with characteristic flourish. At one point he called "tariff" his "fifth favorite word." He also invoked the workers directly: "Workers like you and companies like this have always been loyal to our country."

The president claimed the policies are delivering measurable gains in heavy-truck production. "American trucking is back," he said, asserting that heavy-truck manufacturing has increased about 31% and truck shipments have reached an all-time high.

He broadened the claim to the wider manufacturing base, saying the U.S. has added 60,000 manufacturing jobs this year and that manufacturing workers' wages have risen by nearly $4,000 since he took office.

The BLS data tells a different story over the full period. FreightWaves reported ahead of the visit that Bureau of Labor Statistics figures cited by Fox Business showed manufacturing employment declined by 35,000 jobs from Trump's return to office in January 2025 through the period covered by that report — a gap between the president's speech-day claims and the official record.

For shippers and carriers, the Denton event signals the administration intends to keep truck tariffs in place and defend them publicly. With PACCAR expanding domestic capacity and parts sourcing under USMCA rules under renewed scrutiny, equipment buyers and component suppliers should expect the tariff-defined cost structure to remain a fixed feature of North American truck procurement through the coming cycle.