It was first reported earlier this year that Samsung was considering setting up a plant in the United States to manufacture appliances. It was the company's expected response to growing protectionism in the country following Donald Trump's election to the office of the president.
The president had long claimed on the campaign trail that he would hike tariffs on products manufactured outside the United States for sale in the country in a bid to push manufacturers to set up plants in the country and create new jobs in the United States.
Recent reports had suggested that Samsung had decided to set up a plant in the state of South Carolina and that it would invest $380 million for the purpose. This has now been confirmed by the company.
Samsung is indeed opening a new factory in South Carolina that's going to cost it $380 million. The plant will be used to manufacture washing machines and other appliances. Samsung will also conduct research and development at the site. It's going to be established at a former Caterpillar plant in the town of Newberry.
The company later said in an email that it has been thinking about setting up a home appliance manufacturing plant in the United States for almost three years now.
If that's true, President Trump's claims of hiking tariffs may just have expedited the decision, not caused it. Nonetheless, it's going to add almost 1,000 new industrial jobs in the state of South Carolina and that's going to look good on his resumé.
