Lithuania’s leading high-tech company Teltonika wants to launch semiconductor chip production in the United States this year, the company’s owner Arvydas Paukštys told LRT TV on Monday.
"We want to begin operations this year. We have to lease a factory and start some operations there. This is somewhat influenced by the newly introduced tariffs [that] will likely apply to everyone, and producing locally could provide a bit of a competitive edge," he said.
The entrepreneur said the US has "a lot of advantages" compared to other markets.
"If you're not in America and not making your products there, you're out of the game. Our goal has been to find a place where we could set up and possibly build a tech park like the one we're developing in Lithuania," he said.
Paukštys added that it is still unclear whether production will be based in Texas, noting that he has also visited Florida, Nevada, and Utah.
Teltonika's owner travelled to the US in February to scout locations for new factories. At the time, he told the 15min news website that his team was already working in Dallas, Texas, and that building factories was in the plans.
Last November, Paukštys announced that he was suspending the 3.5-billion-euro Teltonika High-Tech Hill project in Vilnius due to red tape in securing the electricity capacity needed for production, claiming the authorities had failed to convert the designation of the state-owned land plot to industrial use.
Government officials disputed his version of the events.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
