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Hyundai will pour $20 billion into building up its U.S. manufacturing, including a $5 billion steel plant in Louisiana, where around 1,500 workers will be hired to make advanced steel for electric vehicles.

That information is reportedly expected to be announced Monday at the White House by President Donald Trump, Hyundai Chairman Euisun Chung, and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry.

The steel will be used at Hyundai’s two car factories in Alabama and Georgia. That’s where Hyundai is already making electric cars that compete directly with Tesla. On top of this, Hyundai is also expected to reveal a third U.S. car plant, again in Georgia, during the same White House event.

Hyundai speeds up U.S. expansion ahead of Trump’s tariff deadline

Hyundai’s move comes just days before April 2, when Trump is expected to push out new tariffs against countries with trade surpluses, including South Korea.

Companies are now rushing to get ahead of that. Taiwan Semiconductor and SoftBank have already made their trips to the White House in the past two months to announce their own American expansions.

José Muñoz, the CEO of Hyundai Motor, explained this move during an interview with Axios, saying, “The best way for Hyundai to navigate tariffs is to increase localization.”

That means building more inside the U.S. and importing less. This steel factory is part of that plan. It will build next-gen steel that Hyundai’s American plants will use in electric vehicles, avoiding overseas sourcing and slashing reliance on imports.

The White House confirmed the announcement is coming when they responded to a request for comment from CNBC by pointing to a post on X from Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary. She posted, “More investments, more jobs, and more money in the pockets of hardworking Americans – all thanks to President Trump’s economic policies.”

This is not just about Hyundai. It’s part of a bigger wave. Trump has made it clear that he wants big foreign companies to build inside the U.S. to avoid getting hit with tariffs. Other international firms are getting the message.

Apple said last month it would spend $500 billion over the next four years to expand across the U.S., including manufacturing and facility upgrades.

That announcement was widely seen as a way to stay ahead of potential China-related tariffs, even though parts of that investment had already started.

Then in January, Oracle, OpenAI, and SoftBank teamed up to launch a new AI venture called Stargate. They said they’d be investing $500 billion into it over the next several years. That project is aimed at growing artificial intelligence infrastructure in the U.S., and again, that timing doesn’t seem accidental.

Meanwhile, Trump has also taken shots at South Korea over trade. In early March, he said that South Korea applies higher tariffs to U.S. exports—four times higher than what the U.S. imposes on South Korean imports. Seoul disagreed and said that under the free trade pact between both countries, the effective tariff rate on U.S. imports was just 0.79% in 2024.

The tension around trade rules is exactly why Hyundai is moving fast. They’re cutting risk by building more directly in the U.S. That includes cars, steel, and everything in between. It also helps that Hyundai is already one of the top EV sellers in the country. That gives them a reason to double down.

But history says not every flashy investment deal at the White House turns out the way it’s pitched. Back in 2017, Trump stood with Foxconn and announced a $10 billion factory in Wisconsin. That deal was supposed to create 13,000 jobs and pump out high-tech electronics.

But it didn’t. The project fizzled out. In 2021, the company walked it back and said they’d invest just $672 million instead. That smaller deal was only expected to create under 1,500 jobs—a long way from the original promise.

This announcement helps Hyundai avoid the kind of tariff mess that’s got other companies scrambling. It checks the boxes: job creation, American factories, and keeping the supply chain close to home. That’s the game now.

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