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You've probably heard about President Trump's push for Apple to build iPhones in the U.S
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to avoid a 25 percent tariff on imported smartphones. Many experts say that would be nearly impossible given the cost and supply chains involved
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But one company has already taken a big step toward bringing high-tech manufacturing
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to American soil, Hyundai. The South Korean automaker has opened a $7.6 billion factory
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in Bryan County, Georgia, its largest U.S. investment to date. The facility was planned
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during Trump's first term, well before new tariff threats were made, but its timing is now working
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in Hyundai's favor. With Trump again promising steep tariffs on imported cars, including vehicles
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from South Korea, Hyundai's decision to manufacture cars in the U.S. may help it avoid major cost
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hikes on some of its most popular electric models. The new plant will build EVs like the
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IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 9 and is expected to eventually employ 8,500 workers
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While the jobs aren't unionized, they are considered well-paying and high-skilled, boosting the economy in a region that betting big on advanced manufacturing But this factory doesn look like the ones of decades past Hyundai is deploying more than 850 industrial robots to assist in production These humanoids
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are tasked with heavy lifting, sorting, and other repetitive jobs that are physically demanding or
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prone to human error. Hyundai says the goal is not to eliminate workers, but to improve safety
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and productivity and allow human employees to focus on more specialized, detail-oriented tasks
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Scott Quindersma is senior director of robotics at Boston Dynamics. The jobs that you might want a humanoid to actually do are the kind of jobs where it's basically back-breaking labor for a person to do
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The trend is already taking hold overseas. In China, humanoid robots are increasingly used in EV manufacturing, handling everything from assembly to quality control
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Here in the U.S., Hyundai says the 8,500 jobs at the Georgia factory are safe
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And while some experts caution that more of the work could shift to machines over time
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the company's experience with robots and its South Korean factory shows that automation doesn't always mean job losses
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For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kaylee Carey. Find your latest unbiased, fact-driven news right now on Straight Arrow News' mobile app or on SAN.com
