Korean group’s spending spree will include $5 billion for a new steel plant in Louisiana
March 24, 2025 at 15:10
- Hyundai confirms plans for a massive US investment alongside Pres. Trump.
- One sixth of the $20 billion spend is earmarked for a $5.8 billion steel plant.
- President Trump has introduced tariffs that protect US-based steel producers.
President Trump’s new tariffs on imported goods have caused confusion and concern among some foreign businesses, but Hyundai is sidestepping the issue by investing $20 billion in US-based operations.
The Korean company’s plan to spend billions of dollars in America was announced at The White House today. Included in the cash splash is a $5.8 billion steel plant due to be built in Louisiana that could provide around 1,500 jobs, though Bloomberg sources reckoned the entire investment project would create more like 14,000 jobs.
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Next-generation steel from the plant will be used to build electric cars at Hyundai’s plants in the US. The automaker already produced cars in Alabama and sister company Kia had one in Georgia, but in 2024 Hyundai opened another ‘Metaplant’ Georgia facility which currently builds the facelifted Ioniq 5s.
Around $9 billion of the total investment announced today will go towards boosting vehicle production to 1.2 million units annually, Bloomberg says. Besides the Ioniq 5 the new factory will build five other EVs from the Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands, and last May the company confirmed it would also produce hybrids.
Korean companies, like some of their counterparts in many other countries, are rushing to move operations to the US to avoid import tariffs announced by President Trump and due to come into force on April 2 to protect American industries.
“This investment is a clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work,” Trump said at The White House today as the Hyundai deal was unveiled. “And I hope other things also, but the tariffs are bringing them in at levels that have not been witnessed,” The Hill reports him telling journalists.
More: While Canada Fights Back Against Trump’s Auto Tariffs, Mexico Chooses Diplomacy Over Confrontation
Steel and aluminum carry a 25 percent duty and that doesn’t only apply to the raw metals, but hundreds of products made from them. And South Korea is on Trump’s naughty list, the president accusing it of ripping off the US through its own import levies.
This big investment plan isn’t Hyundai’s only one that involves working with America and its companies. The Korean automaker and GM are exploring a range of colabs that could give Hyundai a version of the Chevy Colorado pickup and GM a pair of Hyundai-engineered electric vans.
