Hyundai has pledged to invest $20 billion in the United States over the next four years, President Donald Trump announced on Monday.
As part of the investment, the South Korean automaker will build a new $5.8 billion steel plant in Louisiana.
“This will be Hyundai’s first-ever steel mill in the United States,” Trump said. “One of the largest companies in the world, by the way.”
Trump made the announcement from the Roosevelt Room on Monday afternoon alongside Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and Hyundai Chairman Euisun Chung.
Chung said that the Louisiana plant will create 1,300 American jobs and create the foundation for a more “self-reliant” supply chain in the United States, adding that Hyundai is proud to be a stronger partner in America’s industrial future.
Landry, who traveled to South Korea in October and met with Hyundai to discuss the investment plan, said that the move is testament to Trump’s leadership.
“For decades now, what Americas have seen is jobs being offshored rather than onshored,” the governor said. “And today’s announcement is exactly that. This is a message for all of America, that this president, and the governors out there, care about the American worker.”
Trump said that Hyundai’s investment in the United States demonstrates that “tariffs work.” In February, Trump reinstated a 25 percent tariff on foreign-made steel and aluminum. Metals produced in the United States would not be affected by the tariffs.
During his Cabinet meeting earlier Monday, Trump said that his tariffs are forcing companies, specifically automakers to come back to the United States.
“They have to come back because the tariffs are coming back,” Trump said.
The president noted that General Motors is considering a plan of action in response to the tariffs, which may include shifting some truck production from to the United States. He also said that other automakers are racing to figure out how the tariffs on vehicles and parts from Canada, Mexico and elsewhere will impact their business.
Earlier this year, the White House said that Trump was taking action against unfair trade practices and the “global dumping” of steel and aluminum.
“Foreign nations have been flooding the United States market with cheap steel and aluminum, often subsidized by their governments,” the White House said.
Trump has already threatened to impose reciprocal tariffs on various countries on April 2, including longtime allies that have large trade surpluses with the United States such as South Korea.
“We’ve been ripped off by every country, friend and foe,” Trump said Monday.
The president added that companies that once left the United States are now expressing “tremendous interest” in coming back, noting that his administration has identified trillions of new investments in the United States.
Hyundai, which already has a factory in Alabama and a Kia plant in Georgia, will also be opening a new car and battery factory in Georgia on Wednesday.
Reuters contributed this story.