Hyundai, Trump announce $21bn US investment, new steel plant

24 March 2025 - 16:37 By Reuters
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Hyundai's investment comes after US President Donald Trump's return to the White House.
Hyundai's investment comes after US President Donald Trump's return to the White House.
Image: Win McNamee/Getty Images

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group announced a $21bn (R382,981,050,900) investment in the US with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

The investment includes a new $5.8bn (R105,765,611,740) Hyundai Steel plant in Louisiana that will produce more than 2.7-million metric tons of steel annually, creating more than 1,400 jobs. The steel plant is expected to supply steel to auto plants in Alabama and Georgia.

Of the total, Hyundai also plans to invest $9bn (R164,113,200,000) by 2028 to boost US production capacity to 1.2-million vehicles in the US and $6bn (R109,408,731,600) to expand strategic partnerships with US companies in autonomous driving, robotics, artificial intelligence and advanced air mobility, the company said.

Hyundai Motor plans to hold an opening ceremony for its new $7.59bn (R138,381,252,669) car and battery factory in Georgia on Wednesday. The carmaker has a factory in Alabama, while its affiliate Kia has a plant in Georgia. The two older plants can produce 700,000 vehicles a year and the new Georgia plant will have a 300,000-vehicle production capacity when fully operational.

Louisiana governor Jeff Landry travelled to South Korea in October and met with Hyundai to discuss the investment plan.

"Money is pouring in. We want to keep it that way," Trump said.

The South Korean carmaker also said  it would buy $3bn (R54,696,147,300) of LNG produced in the US.

Many companies have announced planned investments after Trump's return to the White House, though some of the statements have included previously announced plans.

Hyundai in 2022 said it would invest about $10bn (R182,286,500,000) through to 2025 in the US.

The announcement comes as Trump threatens to impose reciprocal tariffs on many countries on April 2, potentially targeting South Korea, which has a large trade surplus with the US.

"The investment is a clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work," Trump said on Monday, adding more tariffs on autos are likely to be announced this week.

Trump has introduced tariffs to boost protection for US steel and aluminium producers. He reimposed global tariffs of 25% on all imports of the metals and extended the duties to hundreds of downstream products made from the metals, from nuts and bolts to bulldozer blades and soda cans.

Carmakers have been heavily lobbying the White House to not impose massive new tariffs on imported cars and parts. GM CEO Mary Barra met Trump earlier this month and told him the carmaker wants to invest $60bn (R1,093,772,784,000) in the US but raised concerns about uncertainty over tariff policies.


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