Electrolux halts $250 million project in Springfield, Tenn., after tariff announcement

Natalie Allison | The Tennessean

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After announcing in January a $250 million plant expansion in Springfield, Tenn., Sweden's Electrolux reported Friday that its plans are now on hold.

Reuters first reported that the company, Europe's largest home appliance manufacturer, was delaying its Tennessee investment after President Donald Trump announced Thursday new tariffs on imported aluminum and steel.

Electrolux's investment plans included modernizing and adding 400,000 square feet to the Springfield plant, construction on which was slated to begin later this year.

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"Unfortunately, this decision gives foreign appliance manufacturers a cost advantage that is hard to compete against," Electrolux spokesperson Eloise Hale said in a statement to USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee.

Hale said the company was still evaluating the tariff announcement, but is so concerned about the potential negative financial impact that it has gone ahead and put the Springfield expansion project on hold until Trump's order is signed and final details are clear.

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All of the carbon steel the company uses in its U.S. manufacturing plants comes from American steel mills, Hale said.

In a statement to Reuters, Daniel Frykholm, another company spokesperson, said executives believed the tariffs could "cause a pretty significant increase in the price of steel on the U.S. market," and "could damage the overall competitiveness of (Electrolux's) operations in the U.S."

The tariffs, 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum imports, will be formally announced next week as the White House works out additional details on the new duties.

Wall Street pares losses from tariff threat Stocks bounced back from a deficit Friday after plunging earlier on fears of a trade war. But as Fred Katayama reports, the major indexes suffered weekly losses.

Electrolux has made multiple investments in Tennessee

The company has multiple factory locations in Tennessee, including Springfield and Memphis.

Last year company officials began a $20 million expansion in Springfield that would simplify operations at the manufacturing plant. It was a project that overlapped a larger $25 million expansion announced in 2016, bringing its local investment in recent years to nearly $300 million.

Crews are still working on the 2017 project, set to be completed in 2019, but the 2016 project that added 25 jobs and 25,000 square feet to the facility has been completed, said spokeswoman Eloise Hale.

Ten years after receiving a $188 million economic development incentive package from Memphis and Shelby County for 1,240 promised jobs, Electrolux had eliminated 17 percent of the jobs at the Memphis factory, but invested well over what it had initially planned.

Electrolux had first promised an investment of $195 million in Memphis, but eventually spent $306 million for equipment at the plant.

Gov. Bill Haslam's office wasn't immediately available for comment Friday evening.

Nicole Young, Mike Reicher and Kevin McKenzie contributed to this story.

Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter at @natalie_allison.