Trump Lands $20 Billion Investment from Automotive Giant - Abundance of New American Jobs Incoming

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group announced a $21 billion investment in the United States with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

The investment includes a new $5.8 billion Hyundai Steel plant in Louisiana that will produce over 2.7 million metric tons of steel annually, creating more than 1,400 jobs. The steel plant is expected to supply steel to auto plants in Alabama and Georgia.

Of the total, Hyundai also plans to invest $9 billion by 2028 to boost U.S. production capacity to 1.2 million vehicles in the United States and $6 billion to expand strategic partnerships with U.S. companies in autonomous driving, robotics, artificial intelligence, and advanced air mobility, the company said.

Hyundai Motor plans to hold an opening ceremony for its new $7.59 billion car and battery factory in Georgia on Wednesday. The automaker has a factory in Alabama, while its affiliate Kia has a plant in Georgia. The two older plants can produce 700,000 vehicles a year and the new Georgia plant will have a 300,000-vehicle production capacity when fully operational.

Hyundai, Trump announce $21 billion US investment, new steel plant | Reuters

I am still on the fence with respect to Trump's economic policy. The short-term outlook is gloomy, which is to be expected. The question is will manufacturing and domestic production return to the US creating Trump's anticipated long-term US manufacturing renaissance? I am not completely convinced Trump's economic vision will materialize with the tremendous success he anticipates. I think I will need to see it to believe it, but foreign infrastructure investments that bring jobs and manufacturing back to the US homeland seem like good news.

 

If the point of the tariffs is to either get more manufacturing here in the US or get a better deal for trading our stuff to other countries then eventually his strategy should work. One thing we have going for us is we are a pretty prosperous nation that has a lot of consumers and our economy is mostly consumerism. Other countries can't ignore their ability to make money off of us so giving us better trade deals or setting up shop here in the US is a good deal for them. Seeing the forest for the trees and what not.

 

It is so weird how the same people that want fewer immigrants claim to want more jobs in the US, when we are already at full employment. Who is it that you are proposing work these supposed new jobs?

 

OT: Most libertarian minded people would say they want 1) open labor with legal entry and 2) more constrained citizenship. Both those ideas are being worked by this admin. “Big beautiful door” and “narrowing birthright citizenship”. IMO, these are not controversial ideas. It’s packaged poorly by both parties not trying for a comprehensive immigration plan. Both parties are woefully behind on what happens to labor in the AI world.

 

I saw elsewhere that this was already in the works and just announced to give Trump a bump. Not surprised. No company pulls out a capex plan out of thin air.

 

It should be noted that this administration is highly adverse to legal immigration. Look at how they have pulled legal status from hundreds of thousands of people already. Look at how they are harassing people with green cards (and deporting some of them). And look at the legislation from last time that would have substantially cut legal immigration. The notion that these people are for legal immigration is little more than rhetoric to try to make anti-immigration policy more palatable.

 

Point #2. We are all still waiting on that huge Foxconn investment from the first Trump stint. We will not know for many years if some, or any of this, even happens.

I will say that Hyundai has been booming in the United States, with record breaking (836k units) US sales in 2024. So, it stands to reason that they were likely already ramping up production in the US for the North American market.

 

Well, looks like Florida has the answer to my question. We are going to send children to work in the steel mill! Without a meal break and on the overnight shift, of course.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article302704319.html