Call me a skeptic, but as soon as Tangerine 2.0's bluster about tariffs on pharmacos folds. . . (and it will fold). . . these big splashy investments in high cost, high wage US facilities will. . . be removed from future Rahway budgets. The manufacturing jobs are not projected to exist before 2030 -- see below. And with that folding by Tangerine, so too will the more permanent job offers. . . vanish.
This tactic of building in existing facilities essentially lets the spend be turned on or off, like a bathroom faucet.
Still, it is good (if temporary) news, in De Soto, Kansas (and Wilmington, Delaware earlier last month). There will be some real high wage construction jobs, at least for a time. Here's the latest, but in point of fact -- I'll be surprised if more than 100 new jobs -- across BOTH these locations exist, even three years from now.
. . .The biopharmaceutical company will expand its facility to 200,000 square feet and make an $860 million investment in the site’s existing manufacturing facility. Merck will also invest $35 million into its research and development laboratories, the company stated. . . .
The announcement will also bring jobs to De Soto. Merck estimated that. . . the expansion will create more than 200 new full-time roles when manufacturing operations begin in 2030. . . .
UPDATED: My apologies. I had forgotten that in early 2024, Merck acquired the old Elanco/Bayer fish farm animal health assets (a next-gen fish vaccine project), with a lab facility about a 20 minute drive, to the east of the De Soto warehouse -- just on the outskirts of Kansas City. That facility is a pure biologics R&D facility -- and maybe the idea is to scale up manufacturing out in De Soto, by 2030. In any event, when Trump is gone -- or maybe even before then -- when he's a lame duck, I predict this whole idea will be axed from a future budget review, at Rahway. See legacy graphic at left, or this link. End, updated portion.
Now you know -- 2030?! Seriously -- this is all on a very slow fuse. And as many have surmised, Tangerine 2.0 is likely to blow with the wind of whomever he's talked to last. As soon as Pete Navarro falls from favor (and he will). . . this will likely all unwind.
Moreover, for Merck investors, that will be positive news, too -- as making biological stuff in Brazil creates higher margins, when punishing 50% tariffs for importing it to the US. . . are no longer on the table.
Onward.
नमस्ते
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