Hyundai Motor warns tariffs may jeopardise US production plans

[CHICAGO] Hyundai Motor warned it may rethink how many vehicles it builds in the US, joining the world's largest automakers in speaking out against the Trump administration's crackdown on steel and aluminium imports.

"Changes to the existing tariff structure could negatively impact our current US production and further expansion," Jim Trainor, a Hyundai spokesman, said in an email. "Imposing tariffs on steel could increase production costs, which could lead to higher prices for US consumers, and, potentially, decreased demand."

Hyundai is going a step further than Toyota Motor Corp and Ford Motor, which have also cautioned that the tariffs will make vehicles costlier while stopping short of saying the levies could impact production plans.

The South Korean automaker builds Hyundai Sonata and Elantra sedans and Santa Fe Sport crossovers at a plant in Alabama. Affiliate Kia Motors also assembles Sorento sport utility vehicles and Optima sedans in Georgia.

BLOOMBERG