Samsung planning $300 mn expansion of US production facilities: Report

Samsung is planning a $300-million expansion of its US production facilities, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, citing sources.

The move follows President Donald Trump's rhetoric of creating more jobs in the US.

Samsung will also shift some production of its oven ranges to the US from Mexico, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. The move would create around 500 jobs, the people added.

Talks were in progress and no final decisions had been made, and a start date for oven-range production was yet to be determined, the people told the Journal.

A Samsung representative told CNBC the company was in "preliminary discussions related to opening a new manufacturing facility in the U.S. for home appliances." He added, the company started reviewing manufacturing operations early last fall.

"This is a complex process that, like all strategic business decisions, will not be made final until it is determined through proper due diligence and planning that it is the best option for Samsung."

Trump had called for a 35-per cent border tax on US businesses that moved jobs abroad and imported products back into the US market.

"I certainly support a form of tax on the border," he told Reuters last month. "What is going to happen is companies are going to come back here, they're going to build their factories and they're going to create a lot of jobs and there's no tax."