WASHINGTON — The Korean automaker Hyundai will invest $21 billion in the United States, President Donald Trump announced at the White House Monday. The investment includes a new $5.8 billion steel plant in Louisiana that will create up to 1,400 jobs.
“This investment is a clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work,” Trump said at an event where he was flanked by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, House Majority Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun.
“Hyundai will be producing steel in America and making its cars in America, and as a result they’ll not have to pay any tariffs,” he said. “There are no tariffs if you make your product in America.”
While Trump credited his tariff threats for the investment, NOLA.com reported in early January, before Trump had returned to the White House, that Hyundai already planned to build the steel mill in Louisiana. The deal had been in the works for much of the prior year, the report said.
The announcement comes as Hyundai plans to open its second U.S. manufacturing plant in the United States this week — an $8 billion plant in Georgia that will help the company make more than 1 million vehicles in the U.S. annually.
The plant is expected to create more than 8,500 jobs, Eui-sun said, adding that the Korean automaker plans to invest another $21 billion in the U.S. over the next four years and purchase $3 billion of U.S. liquid natural gas to support America’s energy industry and localize its supply chain.
Hyundai, whose North American headquarters is in Southern California, is the fourth best-selling car company in the U.S. In 2024, it made up about 11% of all U.S. car sales in 2024, following General Motors (17%), Toyota (15%) and Ford (13%), according to Cox Automotive.
While the bulk of Hyundai vehicles is made in South Korea, it builds its Santa Fe, Tucson, Santa Cruz and Genesis GV70 at its factory in Montgomery, Alabama, which opened in 2005. It also has engineering facilities in Michigan and a design, research and testing facility in California.
The investment announcement comes as Trump readies plans to begin reciprocal taxes on trading partners beginning April 2 — a move that is expected to impact foreign car companies that rely on imported steel and other goods to make their vehicles. Hyundai operates a steel division in South Korea that largely uses iron ore from Australia to make the metal in its cars.
Hyundai’s new U.S. steel operations will produce more than 2.7 million metric tons of steel each year, Trump said. It will be the company’s first-ever steel mill in the United States.
