Volvo temporarily suspended production at SC auto plant. Lawmaker blasts Trump
Volvo, the global automaker that became one of South Carolina’s biggest industrial recruits, suspended production at its Berkeley County manufacturing plant about a week ago because of ‘supply chain’ issues.
But a company spokesman said Friday that Volvo has been working to resolve those problems and expects to resume production Saturday. Spokesman Russell Datz said production was paused temporarily at the end of last week.
Volvo’s production suspension follows an announcement that it would lay off about five percent of its workforce, about 125 people, at the plant off Interstate 26 west of Charleston.
The company’s recent halt in production sparked sharp words Friday from U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, who blamed President Donald Trump’s tariff policies for Volvo’s supply chain issue.
Concerns have risen nationally about the ability to get affordable automobile parts from other countries with higher U.S. tariffs on foreign goods.
“Trump’s reckless tariffs are continuing to wreak havoc on South Carolina’s economy,’’ Clyburn, D-SC, said in a news release. “Jobs have already been lost, and more are at grave risk.’’
A spokesman for Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican and major Trump supporter, declined comment Friday on the issue.
Volvo chose South Carolina in 2015 for a $500 million factory that would eventually create thousands of jobs. At the time its decision was announced, state officials said the plant would be Volvo’s first manufacturing facility in the western hemisphere.
The decision was considered a major economic win for jobs-seeking South Carolina.
Its initial production capacity was expected to be 100,000 cars, according to a 2015 news release from then-Gov. Nikki Haley’s office. The plant manufactures the latest generation Volvo models, Haley’s office said at the time. Haley called the company’s choice of South Carolina a “landmark’’ decision.
But Trump’s tariffs are an issue.
The S.C. Daily Gazette reported Friday that while Volvo is assembling cars in South Carolina, some of the parts for its EX90 automobile come from other countries, including Canada, China and Mexico.
Tariff concerns were laid out during an April 29 Volvo earnings call, the Gazette reported.
“The EX90 has been quite heavily impacted by tariffs,” Fredrik Hansson, the automaker’s chief financial officer, said in the Gazette’s story. He noted that “component tariffs may be softened, but it remains a significant factor.”
The Gazette, a news outlet focusing on government and business news, said Trump has imposed 30% tariffs on all Chinese goods and 25% duties on foreign auto parts.
Volvo, a well-known Swedish automaker, initially received about $204 million in incentives from the state and utility Santee Cooper as an enticement to locate in South Carolina over other states, McClatchy has previously reported.
The deal resulted in substantial impacts on the landscape near Ridgeville, but environmental concerns were mollified by the company’s offer to protect some 2,500 acres of undeveloped property around Four Holes Swamp and the Francis Beidler Forest nature preserve.
Volvo’s entry into South Carolina foreshadowed another major economic development win for the state: The decision by Volkswagen subsidiary Scout Motors to build a massive electric vehicle plant in Blythewood north of Columbia. The Scout project is under construction.
