President Donald Trump and Gov. Jeff Landry (R-LA) will announce a new $20 billion investment by Hyundai, news that White House officials cite as evidence of the efficacy of the president’s tariff agenda.
The total investment will include plans for a $5 billion steel plant in Louisiana, which is expected to create roughly 1,500 new jobs, according to White House officials.
Trump and Landry delivered remarks at the White House on Monday afternoon, with Hyundai Chairman Euisun Chung and other Hyundai officials in attendance.
“This investment is a clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work, and I hope other things also, but the tariffs are bringing them in at levels that have not been witnessed,” the president stated during his speech in the Roosevelt Room. “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. You know, there are no tariffs if you make your product in America.”
Hyundai Motors CEO Jose Munoz told Axios in a recent interview that the “best way” to “navigate tariffs is to increase localization.”
Trump has stated his plans to announce a new round of reciprocal tariffs next month. The president has said on multiple occasions that he will specifically target countries with major trade deficits with the United States on automobiles.
However, the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum products he put into effect last month had already brought South Korea to the negotiating table. South Korean officials, including Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo, petitioned the Trump administration earlier this month to exempt their country from the April barrier taxes.
Though Trump’s tariff agenda has injected significant volatility in the stock market, it has also secured a number of billion-dollar investments back into U.S. manufacturing, both from American companies and firms abroad.
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Those investments include a $500 billion pledge from Apple to reshore jobs previously moved to Asia, an additional $100 billion investment from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, hundreds of billions from Nvidia, and more.
