President Trump wants to protect Paccar’s business. Should investors be mad or glad about that?
Paccar (PCAR 4.84%) stock jumped 5% through 12:40 p.m. ET Friday, one day after President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that “In order to protect our Great Heavy Truck Manufacturers from unfair outside competition, I will be imposing, as of October 1st, 2025, a 25% Tariff on all ‘Heavy (Big!) Trucks’ made in other parts of the World.”
President Trump’s truck tariffs
The president went on to explain his intention is to protect “manufacturers, such as Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack Trucks, and others” from “outside interruptions,” which seems to refer to competition from truck manufacturers based abroad.
Image source: Getty Images.
Paccar itself manufactures half the truck brands named — Peterbilt and Kenworth, and DAF as well. Freightliner, however, is actually owned by Germany’s Daimler, while the Mack Trucks brand is owned by Sweden’s Volvo. Complicating matters further, Freightliners are built both domestically, in North Carolina, and abroad, in Mexico. Mack Trucks meanwhile are built in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, with a headquarters in North Carolina… and also in Mexico.
Even Paccar’s Peterbilt has both domestic and foreign manufacturing operations, in Canada and Mexico; Kenworth is built in Ohio and Washington — and also Canada; and DAF is built all around the world — but not the U.S.
Is Paccar stock a buy?
As a result, it’s possible President Trump’s truck tariffs will affect many of the brands he’s trying to protect.
What this means for Paccar stock is hard to say. Still, at a valuation of only 16.2x trailing earnings, paying a strong 4.5% dividend, and with earnings expected to nearly double over the next four years, Paccar looks to me like a solid stock to invest in — which or without protection from tariffs.
Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Paccar. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.