NEW YORK, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Sharpie pen maker Newell

Brands ( NWL ) is moving production of kitchen appliances out of

China and has relocated manufacturing for its writing business

to Tennessee as it faces "uncertainty" on tariffs ahead of the

U.S. presidential election, Newell CEO Chris Peterson said in an

interview with Reuters.

Peterson specified in the interview the supply-chain changes

are not a response to Republican presidential candidate Donald

Trump's campaign pledge to further increase tariffs on

Chinese-made goods and many others if he wins.

"Trump is talking about very large tariffs on China

imports," said Peterson, adding that Democrats are discussing

keeping those that are already in place, originally from Trump's

first term as U.S. President and expanded this year. "There's a

lot of uncertainty. We just want to reduce our exposure

regardless of the outcome.

"It's hard to move supply chains on a real-time basis," he

added.

Newell is automating its U.S. manufacturing to make the

higher wages in the United States work, he said, adding that

moving production to the country also saves on time and volatile

freight costs.

"If you have a plant that is automated enough, the economics

work," he said. "That's our sweet spot."

U.S. companies importing goods from Asia have faced a series

of crises over the last several years, including tariffs, delays

and skyrocketing costs during the pandemic, and, most recently,

Houthi rebels attacking container ships passing through the Suez

canal.

Peterson, a former Procter & Gamble executive who

became the CEO of Newell last year, is a member of the Business

Roundtable, an influential group of CEOs who met with Trump and

President Biden's chief of staff in June. Peterson was present,

a spokesperson for Newell said.

He added that, as a consumer-products maker whose pens,

infant car seats and food storage containers are found in 95% of

U.S. households, "we don't believe it's our place to advocate

for one political ideology."

Newell already manufactures most of the products that make

up its writing business including Paper Mate pens, Expo markers

and Elmer's Glue at its factory in Maryville, Tennessee, a small

city south of Knoxville, Peterson said. The company earlier this

year repatriated more manufacturing of its writing division from

China and South Korea to Tennessee because the plant can be

expanded, he said.

The company also has projects "in flight" to move its

kitchen appliance manufacturing from China to Vietnam, Thailand,

Indonesia and elsewhere, Peterson said, adding that Newell is

not exiting China but "reducing our dependence."

Newell acquired Jarden Corp, the maker of Crockpots, Oster

blenders and Mr. Coffee coffee makers, in a $16 billion mega

deal in 2016 aimed at better negotiating prices with its biggest

customer, Walmart ( WMT ). But Newell has struggled as

inflation-weary consumers cut back on anything other than

essential purchases.

Newell was dropped from the S&P 500 index last year as its

market share crumbled. So far this year, its shares are down 6%,

compared with a nearly 10% gain in the S&P index.

The Atlanta-based company this year accelerated its earlier

efforts to slash its dependence on China for manufacturing,

Peterson said on a July 26 conference call with investors.

Newell expects to have less than 10% of the company's U.S.

business exposed to Chinese manufacturing by the end of next

year, versus about 15% currently, Peterson said. Five years ago,

the figure was around 35%, he said.

Outside of China, Newell has found it difficult to find

factories that make finished products near those that

manufacture the component parts, Peterson said.

"The ecosystem is very well set-up in China, of both the

finished good assembly as well as the component parts," he said.

"Raw material production is also in China, and so, it's hard to

move when you have that dynamic."

The company is in the midst of a productivity initiative,

including automating manufacturing, that is aimed at turning the

business around and boosting its margins.

"We're moving to jobs where people are managing the robots

and managing the automation," he said, adding that the change is

leading the company to pay higher wages.

The average wage for Newell's jobs at its Maryville,

Tennessee plant is currently above $20 per hour, he said.

"My objective is to get our average wage in our

manufacturing plant up significantly, by transitioning our

workforce away from manual labor into more skilled labor," he

said. "If we do that well, we can repatriate more manufacturing

back to the U.S."

Repatriating the additional writing business earlier this

year added about 70 jobs at the Maryville factory, a

spokesperson said.