WASHINGTON/SEOUL: South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group announced a $21 billion investment in the United States with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday. The investment includes a new $5.8 billion Hyundai Steel plant in Louisiana that will produce over 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 $9 billion by 2028 to boost US production capacity to 1.2 million vehicles in the United States and $6 billion 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 $7.59 billion car and battery factory in Georgia on Wednesday. The automaker 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 had 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 automaker also said that it would buy $3 billion of LNG produced in the United States. Numerous companies have announced planned investments following Trump’s return to the White House, though some of those statements have included previously announced plans.

Hyundai in 2022 said it would invest about $10 billion through 2025 in the United States. The announcement comes as Trump threatens to impose reciprocal tariffs on numerous countries on April 2, potentially targeting South Korea which has a large trade surplus with the United States.

“This investment is a clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work,” Trump said on Monday, adding that more tariffs on autos are likely to be announced this week. Trump has already introduced tariffs to boost protection for US steel and aluminum producers. 

He reimposed global tariffs of 25 percent 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. Automakers have been heavily lobbying the White House to not impose massive new tariffs on imported autos and parts. GM CEO Mary Barra met with Trump earlier this month and told him the automaker wants to invest $60 billion in the United States but raised concerns about uncertainty over tariff policies. — Reuters