LG Electronics ready to expand U.S. production under Trump's Mexico tariffs

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LG Electronics ready to expand U.S. production under Trump's Mexico tariffs

Published: 25 Mar. 2025, 17:03

JIN EUN-SOO
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

LG Electronics CEO William Cho speaks during a general shareholder meeting on March 25 at the company's Yeouido headquarters in western Seoul. [LG ELECTRONICS]

LG Electronics CEO William Cho said the company has already started preparation work to expand its Tennessee facilities in response to the looming Mexico tariff enforcement by U.S. President Donald Trump.

"We have already begun preparation work for the ground and started building temporary facilities at our Tennessee factory so that it can manufacture refrigerators, ovens and so on," Cho told reporters at LG Electronics' general shareholders' meeting on Tuesday.

"We have done preparation work so that we can immediately respond without delay when tariffs on Mexico come into effect."

LG Electronics has previously said relocating some production from Mexico to the United States was an option under consideration in order to dodge tariffs from the Trump administration.

The Korean electronics giant operates two Mexico facilities with one located in Reynosa committed to TVs and the other one in Monterrey dedicated to home appliances such as refrigerators. Most of the productions at these facilities are exported to the United States, taking advantage of low production costs and geographic proximity.

LG Electronics runs a washing machine and dryer factory in Tennessee with an idle landsite that could be potentially used to expand facilities for other home appliance products.

CEO Cho had said at CES 2025 earlier this year that the company had put a lot of effort into coming up with a playbook that included various scenarios from the Trump administration.

Regarding resuming operation in Russia, which it suspended in 2022 due to the country's war against Ukraine, Cho struck a cautious note, saying that he was "monitoring the situation" as the conflict continued.

"When the regulation gets lifted, we think we can resume [business] in Russia," he said. "But now it is not the right time to officially announce something."

BY JIN EUN-SOO [[email protected]]