Economics

Volvo Fears for Future of Global Trade as U.S. Plant Opens

  • $1.1 billion factory to make up to 150,000 cars, employ 3,900
  • Carmaker ‘would be even more worried’ without facility: CEO
Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson speaks with Bloomberg Television from Volvo’s new South Carolina plant.
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When Volvo Car Group broke ground on its first U.S. assembly plant in 2015, it was a proof point in the Swedish automaker’s rebound and global expansion, not a chess move in anticipation of a possible trade war.

Now that the factory is about to begin production, it’s poised to serve as a small hedge against tariffs at a time when new or heightened trade barriers are being threatened almost daily.