Electrolux to put $250m US investment on hold over Trump tariffs

Electrolux is putting on hold a $250 million (€203 million) investment in a cooking factory in Tennessee announced in January, citing concerns over the impact from US president Donald Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminium.

In one of the first concrete signs of corporate unease over the trade action, the Swedish company, said: “We’re concerned about the impact that the tariffs could have on the competitiveness of our US operations. Until we have the final order and can understand the details, we are putting our commitment to invest $250 million in Tennessee on hold.”

Springfield

Electrolux is Europe’s largest appliances maker. It was planning to start expanding and modernising its factory in Springfield from late 2018 until 2020 by adding 37,000 square metres of manufacturing capacity.

But now Electrolux is warning that “tariffs are likely to cause a significant increase in the price of steel on the US market. This will give foreign-made products an unfair cost advantage compared with products made in the US.”