Hyundai to invest $20B in US manufacturing

Hyundai plans to invest $20 billion to bring manufacturing operations to the U.S., the White House announced Monday. 

Part of the investment, about $5.8 million, will go toward building a next-generation steel plant that will supply two of its U.S. plants and will employ over 1,400 people. The rest of the money will be earmarked to expand manufacturing in the U.S. 

President Trump said that the companies’ two plants in Alabama and Georgia, “will soon produce more than 1 million American-made cars every single year” due to the investment. 

The automaker is the latest among a growing number of companies announcing plans to increase investment in the U.S. under the Trump administration, which has been using tariffs to encourage companies to bring manufacturing back to American soil and reduce reliance on foreign goods. 

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“The cars are coming into this country at levels never seen before. Get ready. This investment is a clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work,” Trump said. 

Vice President JD Vance posted on X earlier this month that companies will be rewarded for investing in and creating jobs in America. 

“We’ll lower regulations and reduce taxes. But if you build outside of the United States, you’re on your own,” he wrote. 

The news from Hyundai comes just a few weeks after GE Aerospace announced a nearly $1 billion investment to help “strengthen manufacturing and increase the use of innovative new parts and materials needed for the future of flight.” GE said the funds, nearly double last year’s commitment, will help increase the safety, quality and delivery of engines, benefiting more than two dozen communities across 16 states. GE said it will also hire around 5,000 U.S. manufacturing and engineering workers.

ELI LILLY INVESTING $27B MORE IN US MANUFACTURING

Eli Lilly announced in February that it was investing an additional $27 billion to boost domestic drug production, bringing the company’s total U.S. manufacturing investment to more than $50 billion since 2020. Johnson & Johnson also announced a $55 billion investment over four years. 

Apple also announced that it is committing $500 billion over the next five years, which will involve building an advanced AI server manufacturing factory near Houston, as well as doubling the company’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund from $5 billion to $10 billion.

The tech giant also plans to establish an Apple Manufacturing Academy in Detroit, as well as hire 20,000 new employees with focuses on research and development, silicon engineering, artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company said it will invest $100 billion in U.S.-based semiconductor chip manufacturing and shipping giant CMA CGM will invest $20 billion in U.S. shipping and logistics. 

Softbank, DAMAC, Meta and others have also committed to investing in the U.S. under Trump. Even Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida suggested Trump’s tariffs could force the car manufacturer to shift its production outside of Mexico.

The administration touted that “Trump is on a mission to make America the manufacturing superpower of the world.” While economist Michael Szanto believes moving more manufacturing back to the United States is a “worthy goal,” he said it “will take time and will not be without pain.” 

“Building advanced factories like chip foundries can take years and cost billions of dollars,” Szanto said. He said prices may go up in the near term because the U.S. lacks “some of the people to even build some factories, let alone staff them.” 

However, he said “our strength in manufacturing is that the United States has some of the greatest energy resources to power our factories cheaply” and that “in the future advances in automation and robotics will allow us to alleviate staffing shortages.”