Chinese tariffs lead to 126 jobs lost at South Carolina TV plant

• Element TV Company in South Carolina says it's laying off 126 workers because tariffs on imports from China are hitting components needed to make TVs.
• Workers will be let go Oct. 5, leaving a skeleton crew of eight employees to watch the Fairfield County plant in hopes it can reopen in three to six months.

Workers check television sets before they are repackaged at Element Electronics in Winnsboro, South Carolina.

Reuters

A South Carolina television maker says it's laying off 126 workers because of President Donald Trump's tariffs on imports from China.

Element TV Company said in a letter to state employment officials Monday that workers will be let go Oct. 5, leaving a skeleton crew of eight employees to watch the Fairfield County plant in hopes it can reopen in three to six months.

Element says the tariffs are hitting key components it uses to assemble its U.S.-made televisions. The Trump administration imposed a 25 percent import tax that included Chinese components for TVs in July.

Fairfield County is 30 miles north of Columbia. The county lost about 5,000 jobs last summer when construction was halted on two nuclear reactors.

The layoffs were first reported by The State newspaper.