Trump Hails Hyundai’s US Expansion as Tariff Vindication

President Donald Trump celebrated plans by Hyundai Motor Co. to mount a significant expansion in the U.S., casting it as a vindication of his administration’s use of tariffs to pressure foreign manufacturers to create American jobs. 

“We’re delighted to report that Hyundai is announcing a major $5.8 billion investment in American manufacturing,” Trump said March 24 at a White House event alongside Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and executives from the South Korean automaker.

Hyundai will be building a new steel plant in Louisiana, which Trump said would produce more than 2.7 million metric tons of steel a year. “And then there’ll be major expansion after that,” he added.

“Money is pouring in, and we want to keep it that way,” Trump said, calling the investment a “clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work.”

Hyundai plans to spend about $21 billion in the U.S. through 2028 to increase vehicle production and on other projects expected to create about 14,000 direct jobs, the company said in a statement, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg News. The push includes $9 billion to boost factory output to about 1.2 million vehicles per year, plus another $12 billion on other initiatives, including the new steel mill in Louisiana.

🚨 @POTUS announces Hyundai will build a new $5.8 billion steel plant in Louisiana — creating nearly 1,500 new jobs — as part of the company’s $20+ billion U.S. investment. pic.twitter.com/6ITnuLkGby

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 24, 2025

Hyundai Chairman Chung Euisun said the investment would strengthen the steel supply chain in the U.S. and said the company would also purchase $3 billion of U.S. liquefied natural gas.

“It’s deepening our partnership with the United States and reinforcing our shared vision for American industrial leadership,” he said.

Hyundai is the latest foreign company to spotlight plans to ramp up production in the U.S. as Trump escalates a trade war aimed at forcing manufacturers to create more American jobs. The president has already put in place levies on steel and aluminum and is poised to announce even more sweeping import taxes on April 2. On that date, the administration is expected to unveil reciprocal tariffs that will hit other nations with levies equal to the barriers they impose on U.S. goods.

Trump officials have publicly acknowledged in recent days the list of target countries may not be universal, but it is still unclear which nations they will target. South Korea is one of the nations Trump cites as a trade abuser.

“I may give a lot of countries breaks but it’s reciprocal, but we might be even nicer than that,” Trump said March 24, suggesting some countries may receive a reprieve. But he also reiterated his threat to announce additional tariffs over the “next few days, having to do with automobiles, cars and having also to do a little bit with lumber down the road, lumber and chips.”

The 25% steel and aluminum tariffs that incentivize foreign steelmakers to build inside American borders are expected to give a short-term profit boost to domestic producers, but there is widespread worry that weak demand, ongoing inflation and continued high borrowing costs will act as massive headwinds to the industry.

US Expansion

Hyundai’s latest investment push comes as it officially opens a new electric vehicle plant near the port of Savannah, Georgia, that it first announced in 2022. Hyundai CEO Jose Munoz has long said the company would pursue a strategy of localization in the U.S. to mitigate the risk of policy changes. 

RELATED: Production Begins at Hyundai’s $7.6 Billion EV Factory

Hyundai has been retooling the Georgia plant to make hybrid vehicles amid a slowdown in EV demand. The company, along with its partners SK On Co. and LG Energy Solution, is also already investing in two battery joint ventures to enable additional capacity at the plant.

The new steel mill is expected to employ about 1,500 workers, according to a person familiar with the project who asked not to be identified. Plans for Hyundai to build an electric arc furnace in the U.S. have been widely discussed in the domestic steel market since the beginning of the year.

The Korea Economic Daily in January reported that Hyundai planned to build a multimillion-dollar steel mill in Louisiana to supply its US Hyundai and Kia vehicle assembly plants. The plans for Hyundai to announce the $20 billion investment were reported earlier March 24 by CNBC.

Trump’s tariff push — a broad bid to reshape global trade flows — has rattled investors and raised worries that the moves may tip the U.S. economy into a downturn. Trump at times has reversed course or suspended import taxes, fueling uncertainty for business owners and investors.

Earlier this month he offered a reprieve for auto companies from newly imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada, delaying those levies for any vehicles and automobile parts covered by the North American trade agreement he negotiated in his first term. That came after the heads of Detroit’s Big Three met with administration officials to push for a carveout. 

The auto industry is particularly vulnerable to Trump’s tariffs against Mexico and Canada, with the industry’s supply chains deeply integrated across the continent. Trump has long desired that companies build manufacturing plants inside the U.S. to avoid dependence on foreign imports.

Further complicating the steel landscape in the U.S. is uncertainty surrounding Trump’s broader trade tariff policy. Nucor Corp., the largest American steelmaker, Steel Dynamics and United States Steel Corp. last week warned investors of lackluster earnings results for the first quarter. Central to the concerns, according to analysts at Citi, was “tariff-related uncertainty” as buyers worry too many duties will begin causing demand destruction across the economy.