Element Says TV Plant Will Stay Open, With Tariffs Removed From Components

With the “great news” that Element Electronics persuaded the Trump administration to remove LCD panels and motherboards under the 9013.80.90 and 8529.90.13 line items from the third tranche of Trade Act Section 301 tariffs set to take effect Monday (see 1809180020), Element’s Winnsboro, South Carolina, LCD TV assembly factory “will remain open!” it emailed retail customers Walmart and Target Tuesday. “Thanks again for supporting Element -- the only major television brand assembling TVs in America.” Element threatened to shutter the factory and terminate the remaining 125 jobs there if tariffs on the components it sources from China had gone through because the prohibitively higher costs would have forced the company to import finished TVs from China rather than assemble them in Winnsboro (see 1809130047). "We are working on plans now," Element General Counsel David Baer told us Thursday when asked if the company will restore the Winnsboro workforce to its pre-tariff levels of 300-plus employees. Winnsboro sustained no serious flooding or damage from Florence, and "everyone is safe," though "we got a bunch of rain," said Baer.