Trump's Trade War Forces Volvo To Shift Gears In South Carolina

April 16, 2019 5:21 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered
CAMILA DOMONOSKE

Volvo is a Chinese-owned Swedish company making cars in the U.S. When it decided to set up a plant in South Carolina to build cars to ship around the world, it was following a long tradition.

With its port, Charleston, S.C., has been a shipping hub for centuries. And the state has been home to international manufacturers for decades — BMW, Michelin and Bosch are among the many global firms with footholds there.

But before the plant opened last year, President Trump transformed America's approach to trade policy.

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Volvo's new $1.1 billion plant in Ridgeville, S.C., employs 1,500 people. It's currently running at a fraction of its capacity, manufacturing the S60, a luxury sedan. But Volvo has certainly not stopped production because of tariffs. In fact, the company is still planning to add an SUV to the plant in the next few years.

And half the cars made in the facility are still being exported — just not to China. A batch recently went to Belgium, for distribution across Europe. In coming months, Volvo says, it will ship cars to countries in the Middle East, Africa, Oceania and the Asia Pacific region — excluding China, of course.

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