Hyundai shares fall: US migration raid threatens to hit investment

Shares of South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor closed negative on September 8 after a migrant raid on its plant in the United States. The company's Georgia plant detained 475 people, most of them South Korean nationals. After that, Trump said that foreign companies should not only respect US laws, but also hire local specialists. Hyundai is one of the largest foreign investors in the US.

Shares of Hyundai Motor were down nearly 0.7% in Seoul trading on Monday, September 8. At the low point during the day, the stock was down 2% to 215,500 South Korean won ($155.2) per share, but by the end of the day it had partially recovered its losses. The stock suffered the fallout from a raid by U.S. authorities on a battery manufacturing facility in Georgia. Hyundai is building it jointly with LG Energy Solution.

The Trump administration plans to strengthen control over businesses in the field of migration, said White House migration adviser Tom Howman in an interview with CNN. He was quoted by Reuters. Howman emphasized that the authorities will check employers more often, including such operations at enterprises. According to him, illegal migrants are attracted to work not out of good faith, but for the sake of economy: they are paid less, forced to work more and thus reduce costs compared to companies that hire U.S. citizens.

US President Donald Trump said that foreign companies should not only respect American laws, but also commit to training and employment of local specialists. In a publication in the social network Truth Social, he noted that investments by foreign companies in the US are welcome, and the country is ready to quickly and legally ensure the entry of highly qualified specialists. However, in exchange, Washington expects such companies to hire and train American workers.

In a raid on Thursday, September 4, 475 people were detained at a Hyundai plant, most of them South Korean nationals. The incident sent shockwaves through South Korea, a significant U.S. ally that is now trying to finalize a trade deal agreed to in July, Reuters reports.

Hyundai is one of the largest foreign investors in the U.S., and is among the companies that are among those that are expected to participate in the promised $350 billion worth of South Korean investments in the U.S. economy, Reuters reported. South Korean companies are building plants in the United States to produce microchips, electric cars, batteries, ships and other strategic products.

A $350 billion investment package and another $100 billion in U.S. energy purchases are envisioned by the trade deal, which reduced reciprocal tariffs from 25 percent to 15 percent, including duty on cars made by Hyundai in South Korea.

According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), some of the detained workers crossed the U.S. border illegally or stayed in the country after their visas expired, and many had tourist and business visas, which do not entitle them to employment, Reuters reported. South Korean authorities said they had made arrangements with Washington to return their citizens on a special flight, The Wall Street Journal reported.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor