Swedish carmaker Volvo has reportedly made it to the headlines for its investment plan worth $1.1 billion in the U.S. that could fall in potential danger in the midst of the tensions in global trade. According to reports, Håkan Samuelsson, the CEO of Volvo cars has immediate ordered for a ‘de-escalation’ phase amid the heated present scenario.
Incidentally, Volvo has opened its first factory in the U.S. last month, outside Charleston in South Carolina. The factory is expected to commence vehicle production soon enough to be exported in the fall. Håkan also seemed rather confident regarding the halt of the production in the middle of the ongoing issues of new tariffs.
According to a statement by Håkan, free trade would prove to be rather profitable for the employment scenario in the U.S. The company alone would be hiring around 4,000 people at the Charleston factory, he says, out of which half of the employees will help build cars that are to be exported. In the event that these tariffs restrict the export of their cars out of South Carolina, it would severely impact the employment scenario at the Charleston factory, he further said.
Håkan Samuelsson was also of the opinion that the automotive business will not get any stronger after the imposition of new tariffs, while further asserting the urgent need to come in to some de-escalating phase.
President Donald Trump in an attempt to reduce the trade deficit in the United States, has repeatedly declared import tariffs against other countries. One of his most recent threats was to impose a 20% levy on European carmakers, which could easily disrupt the entire Europe automobile industry as well as their economic performance.
For the record, Volvo Cars is owned by Chinese manufacturer Geely. In retrospect, this factor becomes specifically relevant given that Trump has raised tariffs for Chinese goods twice this year and intends to impose more in the future, claim experts.