Hyundai Motor Group announced plans at the White House on Monday to invest $21 billion in its U.S. vehicle supply chain, production and electric vehicle charging — including a new steel factory in Louisiana to supply its Georgia and Alabama automotive plants.
The nearly $6 billion steel factory in Louisiana, one of the centerpieces of the announcement, will expand Hyundai’s U.S. supply base and help the automaker avoid tariffs on imported parts and vehicles.
The Hyundai Steel Company plant will supply the company’s sprawling $7.6 billion electric vehicle factory in coastal Georgia and the Kia factory in West Point. Hyundai also operates a factory near Montgomery.
Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chairman Euisun Chung said the steel factory and other U.S. investments amount to “our largest U.S. investment ever” and comes as its Georgia EV factory will celebrate its grand opening later this week.
Some $9 billion of Hyundai’s planned investment will go toward expanding U.S. capacity to 1.2 million Hyundai, Kia and Genesis models per year. The investments will include funding to develop artificial intelligence technology, robotics and energy innovations, including EV charging and nuclear energy development via small modular reactors.
President Donald Trump hailed the announcements and said Hyundai’s commitment, and others by Apple, validate his aggressive use of tariffs to push foreign manufacturers into creating U.S. jobs.
“This investment is a clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work,” Trump said at the White House ceremony.
Hyundai said its planned investments will create 14,000 jobs through 2028.
Credit: Courtesy Hyundai Motor Group
Credit: Courtesy Hyundai Motor Group
Trump has whipsawed global markets, allies and other trade partners with a series of on-again, off-again tariffs. On Monday, he said more import taxes are coming April 2, including what he calls reciprocal tariffs on countries that have trade levies on U.S. goods. He has taken to calling April 2 “Liberation Day.”
Economists view tariffs as inflationary, and while tariffs could lead to manufacturing growth in the future, they will raise prices for businesses and consumers and could lead to near term job losses.
Trump slapped tariffs on foreign metals in his first term. But there are far more U.S. manufacturing jobs that use steel and aluminum than there are in producing the metals.
One study by economists at Harvard and the University of California, Davis found that those earlier levies helped create about 1,000 domestic steel production jobs but likely led to about 75,000 fewer manufacturing jobs in the U.S. because of higher costs.
Trump said Monday that he will be announcing automotive tariffs soon. Trump also said he would slap 25% import taxes on goods from countries that buy oil from Venezuela, one of the world’s top crude producers.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
By using steel produced in the U.S., Hyundai is building a U.S.-centric supply chain for its vehicles that could help insulate it from tariff shocks.
Hyundai did not immediately announce an opening date for the steel factory, which would employ 1,300 workers in Louisiana.
In a press release issued by Louisiana economic development officials, Hyundai said it will import 3.6 million tons of iron ore each year to be processed at the factory and shipped to customers, including the Hyundai and Kia factories, as well as other automakers. The factory is expected to produce 2.7 million metric tons of steel each year once operational.
Hyundai announced its EV “Metaplant” in Bryan County, near Savannah, in 2022 and opened the facility last year. The company will hold a ceremonial grand opening Wednesday.
There, Hyundai has started production of its Ioniq 5 electric crossover and will also produce the Ioniq 9 three-row SUV.
At full capacity, the project is expected to produce 300,000 EVs a year for the Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands.
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