HYUNDAI TO INVEST $20B IN US MANUFACTURING

"America is for us the largest market, and we then decided to make the largest investment in the world with this $12.6 billion," he said. "There is nothing better to address potential tariffs than localizing our production in America, bringing jobs."

The nearly $6 billion steel plant is part of a $20 billion investment by the South Korean company in U.S.-based manufacturing of vehicles. President Trump on Monday credited the company’s investment to his aggressive use of tariffs to discourage companies from relying on imports to supply operations in the U.S.

“This investment is a clear demonstration that tariffs work,” Trump said during a White House announcement with Hyundai executives. “There’s no tariffs if you make your products in America.”

The South Korean company’s steel mill south of Baton Rouge, La., is expected to have a production capacity of about 3 million tons a year and employ about 1,300 people. The steel will supply vehicles made at Hyundai’s U.S. plants in Alabama and Georgia, where the company plans to construct its third auto assembly plant in the U.S.