Samil Spinning, a Korean cotton spinning company, has signed an agreement to acquire Buhler Quality Yarns, an American yarn manufacturer and subsidiary of Switzerland?s 205-year-old yarn maker Hermann Buhler.
The move is taken to tackle recent threats stemming from the protectionist stance of Donald Trump, signaling other Korean companies may also follow suit. The U.S. withdrawal from the broad international agreement involving 12 countries, the so-called Trans-Pacific Partnership, was a major contributor to the acquisition. Samil was originally considering Vietnam and the US, both under the broad pact, as possible options to set up its overseas production base.
As the US takes aggressive moves under its protectionist policies there has been a growing need to secure a production facility in the country, which led Samil to acquire an American company.