Employees walk in the main office building of Samsung Electronics in Seoul, South Korea, January 6, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

SEOUL (Reuters) - Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd plans to invest $300 million to build an appliances factory in the United States, the Korea Economic Daily reported on Thursday citing unnamed sources.

The plant in Blythewood, South Carolina, will manufacture products such as washing machines and gas oven ranges, the South Korean newspaper said.

Samsung will sign a formal agreement later this month and plans to complete construction of the plant by 2019, the report said.

A Samsung spokesman declined to comment.

The South Korean firm said earlier this year it was in talks to build a home appliances plant in the United States amid worries about protectionist policies under new U.S. President Donald Trump.

Home appliances rival LG Electronics Inc in March announced a $250 million plan to build a new home appliances factory in Tennessee.

(This version of the story corrects planned date for completion of plant in paragraph 3)