A residential washing machine manufacturer with a major Ohio presence is celebrating President Trump's plan to place tariffs on imported washers and solar panels.
Whirlpool's plant in Clyde, in northern Ohio's Sandusky County, is the largest manufacturer of large residential washing machines in the U.S.
Tariffs for larger residential washing machines will start at up to 50 percent in the first year, and phase out after three.
Many imported solar modules will have a tariff of 30 percent, and the rate will decline before phasing out after four years.
Whirlpool spokesperson Patrick O'Connor says the new tariffs will bring innovation and deeper investment to its Clyde plant.
“The company announced with this rule that they have added 200 new full-time positions at their washer facility in Clyde, Ohio. And that's just the first step as the company responds to this new trade order from the president," O'Connor said Tuesday.
The Michigan-based company does most of its manufacturing in Ohio, and more than 3,000 people currently work at the facility in Clyde.
“From Whirlpool's perspective, this announcement caps nearly a decade of litigation, and it's gonna result in new manufacturing jobs in Ohio, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee,” O’Connor says.
A closer Whirlpool plant in Marion builds dryers and refrigerators. The impact of the tariffs on that plant is unknown at this time.
