ExclusiveTrump factor only part of the equation for Chinese manufacturers, TCL chairman says

Despite US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable tariff plans and his desire to revive American manufacturing, overseas expansion by Chinese enterprises will hinge on long-term economic benefits rather than short-term policy swings, according to a Chinese electronics giant.

Building factories in the United States is not yet a viable option for TCL, its founder and chairman Li Dongsheng said, even though the US is the biggest overseas market for TCL’s products, which include televisions, washing machines and solar panels.

“The decision on where to establish a factory, in the United States or other countries, ultimately hinges on the economic benefits and competitiveness of local production,” Li said in an exclusive interview with the Post on the sidelines of the China Development Forum in Beijing on Sunday.

“Currently, for our industry, setting up a factory in the US does not present a competitive advantage.”

If the US were to have stable tax policies and implement relatively competitive industrial policies, the financial considerations might just add up, he said.

“But it is still premature to discuss this matter,” Li added. “The ever-changing policies of the US government themselves constitute a significant risk factor.”

One of the first Chinese companies to build factories overseas, TCL has established 13 offshore production bases around the world in the past 20 years. Li said that in response to the previous round of US tariff increases it spent around four years building a global industrial chain, including scaling up investment in Vietnam and Mexico.

Mexico was a hot destination for Chinese manufacturers wanting to build up their overseas production capacity in recent years, thanks to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, under which products made in Mexico that meet certain rules of origin have been able to enter the US market with zero tariffs.