ISTANBUL

South Korean automotive giant Hyundai will invest $21 billion in the US, President Donald Trump said on Monday.

At a White House news conference, Trump said Hyundai will invest $5.8 billion in the US manufacturing industry.

The carmaker will produce more than 2.7 million metric tons of steel per year in the factory to be established in the Southern state of Louisiana and will provide more than 1,400 jobs, he said.

Trump said the facility, which will be expanded later, will be Hyundai's first steel plant in the US.

The president stressed: "The new steel plant in Louisiana is part of an even larger $21 billion investment they will be making in the US over the next couple of years."

Interest rates

"Hyundai is a great company and we have other great companies coming in and we have some that are going to be staying here," said Trump.

The new factory marks a beginning, he said, mentioning how Apple previously announced a $500 billion investment and other companies have announced investments of $250-300 billion.

"But we we're well into the three and four trillion dollar mark, which has never happened to our country before," he added.

At an earlier Cabinet meeting, he also said, "I would like to see the Fed lower interest rates," adding: "That's just my opinion, because things are coming down. We have inflation under control. Tremendous amounts of money will be soon coming in from tariffs."