by Hyundai confirms plans for large-scale investments in the USA together with President Trump.
One-sixth of the $20 billion expenditure is allocated for a $5.8 billion steel plant.
President Trump has introduced tariffs that protect American steel manufacturers.
New tariffs by President Trump on imported goods have caused confusion and outrage for some overseas companies, however, Hyundai is circumventing the issue by investing $20 billion in operations on US soil.
The Korean company’s plans to spend billions of dollars in the United States were announced today at the White House. One element of this massive investment is a $5.8 billion steel plant planned to be built in Louisiana, which could provide about 1,500 jobs, although sources from Bloomberg believe the entire investment project will create over 14,000 jobs.
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The next generation of steel from this plant will be used to manufacture electric vehicles at Hyundai’s plants in the USA. The manufacturer already produces cars in Alabama, and its sister company has one in Georgia, but in 2024 Hyundai opened a “Metaplant” in Georgia, where they currently produce updated Ioniq 5s.
About $9 billion of the total investment announced today will go towards increasing vehicle production to 1.2 million units annually, according to Bloomberg. In addition to the Ioniq 5, the new plant will produce five other electric vehicles under the Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands, and in May, the company confirmed they will also produce hybrids.
Korean companies, like some of their counterparts in many other countries, are rushing to move their operations to the US to avoid duties announced by the President, which are set to take effect on April 2 to protect American industry.
“This investment is clear evidence that the tariffs are working very well,” Trump said at the White House today when the deal with Hyundai was presented. “And I hope on other aspects too, but the tariffs are attracting them at a level that has never been seen before,” journalists report him as saying.
Steel and aluminum fall onto Trump’s blacklist with a 25 percent duty, and this does not only affect raw metals but hundreds of products made from them. And South Korea is in Trump’s “bad books,” whom he accuses of scamming for the benefit of the USA through its import tariffs.
This major investment plan is not the only one for Hyundai, which envisions cooperation with American companies. The Korean car manufacturer and GM are exploring a number of joint initiatives, which could give Hyundai a pickup truck, while GM gets a pair of electric trucks designed by Hyundai.
