Samsung rejected the gratitude President Trump expressed on Thursday over a factory that the South Korean tech giant is considering building in the United States. Yesterday, Trump took to Twitter to thank Samsung for its initiative, adding how the current U.S. administration “would love to have” the Seoul-based conglomerate open another factory in the country. The move was initially interpreted as Samsung’s attempt to appeal to the new administration, but one of the company’s officials soon issued a statement expressing confusion over President Trump’s tweet. In a statement given to The Korea Herald, Samsung distanced itself from Trump’s gratitude by saying how it wrongly implies that the company did something because Trump wanted it, which apparently isn’t the case.
Furthermore, Samsung’s official stated that the new U.S. factory still hasn’t been approved and that the tech giant may end up not building one in the end. The same source said that Samsung’s leadership feels “pressured” by President Trump’s public show of gratitude over nothing. The new factory that the company is considering building in the U.S. presents a large investment that will take more time to evaluate, the official said, adding how they don’t want Samsung to be seen as retreating from an initiative that has never been approved in the first place. It’s currently unclear whether Trump was aware that Samsung has yet to approve the factory in question as neither the U.S. President nor his administration made any further comments on the matter since Samsung clarified the situation on Friday.
Samsung currently owns a semiconductor factory based in Austin, Texas. The company said it already invested approximately $17 billion in that facility, adding how it’s constantly monitoring the market situation and is always ready to make additional investments if it deems them necessary. During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump often said how he’ll consider imposing high tariffs on products made outside of the U.S. to help bring back jobs to the country. Two weeks into his tenure, the new President has yet to mention such a move again, but it remains to be seen whether tech giants with a huge stateside market presence like Samsung will be willing to wait for him to do so before they start building new manufacturing facilities in the U.S.