Element appealing tariff inclusion, plans to close plant

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Element Electronics is appealing the inclusion of parts it assembles in making televisions on a recent tariff list and hopes to avoid the closure of its Winnsboro plant.

“We have started an appeal process, but there is currently no timeline for a resolution,” Carl Kennedy, Element vice president of human resources, said Wednesday. “Right now, it is business as usual.”

The television maker announced Monday it would shut down its facility in Winnsboro and lay off a majority of its workers in a move it attributed to tariffs enacted by President Donald Trump.

Kennedy said the Fairfield County facility’s 134 permanent employees were given a 60-day notice Monday. Layoffs are scheduled to begin Oct. 5.

A statement issued by Element called the inclusion of its parts on the list of affected products “accidental and resolvable.”

“Element is working hard to have our parts removed from the tariff list, and we remain hopeful that the closure of our South Carolina factory will be avoided,” the statement said.

Last August, Fairfield County lost more than 5,000 jobs after the abandonment of a project, co-owned by S.C. Electric & Gas and Santee Cooper, to build twin nuclear reactors at the V.C. Summer nuclear station. In July 2017, the closure of textile company DuraFiber’s Winnsboro plant resulted in a loss of more than 200 jobs.