Mon Mar 24 22:00:00 UTC 2025: ## Hyundai Announces $20 Billion US Investment, Creating Thousands of Jobs
**Washington, D.C.** – Hyundai, the South Korean automotive giant, announced a staggering $20 billion investment in US on-shoring on Monday, a move hailed by former President Donald Trump as a victory for his economic policies. The centerpiece of the investment is a $5.8 billion steel plant in Louisiana, creating over 1,400 jobs and marking Hyundai’s first US steel manufacturing facility.
The announcement, made at the White House with Trump, Hyundai Chairman Euisun Chung, and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry present, will see the plant produce over 2.7 million metric tons of steel annually, primarily supplying Hyundai’s auto plants in Alabama and Georgia. Chung called the investment Hyundai’s largest ever in the US.
Trump attributed the investment to the success of his protectionist trade policies, specifically citing the effectiveness of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Chung noted that the decision to locate the plant in the Savannah, Georgia area stemmed from a 2019 meeting with Trump in Seoul.
The announcement comes ahead of potential new tariffs on countries with large trade surpluses, including South Korea, scheduled for April 2nd. It follows similar large-scale investment announcements from other companies, including Apple ($500 billion) and a consortium including Oracle, OpenAI, and SoftBank ($500 billion for AI infrastructure), all seemingly influenced by the prospect of tariffs.
However, the article notes that the success of such large-scale investment announcements tied to presidential administrations has been mixed, citing the example of Foxconn’s significantly scaled-back investment in Wisconsin. Despite Trump’s claims that his tariffs were necessary to protect the US auto industry, the article points out that US factories already produce the vast majority of North American vehicles.
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