According to the Wall Street Journal
, Samsung is planning on investing $300 million in a new home-appliance factory somewhere in the US. The project would initially move 500 jobs to the US, and appears to be an attempt to curry favor with the new administration, as well as a pre-emptive move to minimize the impact of any border tax on Mexican goods.
The initial plan is to move production of some oven ranges to the US, according to the WSJ‘s sources. There’s a possibility that in future years, refrigerators and those exploding washing machines could be made in the US, but as with many recent proclamations about sudden investment in the US, there’s no firm plans or details for that expansion.
There’s also no timeline for when Samsung will be opening its oven factory, although the company is said to be in discussion with different states about the possibility of locating the factory. Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio and South Carolina are reportedly in the running, with South Carolina the “strong contender.”
The report comes at a good time for Samsung, which is fighting a publicity battle after Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong was indicted by South Korean prosecutors on bribery charges last week. Mr Lee is currently being held in a South Korean jail, being forced to watch TV on an LG-produced display, according to nightmarish reports.
