Trump says foreign experts welcome after South Korean outrage over raid
Ben Berkowitz
President Trump on Sunday said the U.S. welcomes foreign experts to train Americans how to build high-tech goods, days after hundreds of arrested South Korean workers left the country.
Why it matters: The tension between the administration's economic and immigration policies appears to be working itself out in favor of the economic goals.
The blowback from the arrests threatened to rupture one of the most important U.S. alliances in Asia, and put hundreds of billions of dollars in investment pledges at risk.
Catch up quick: On Sept. 4, ICE raided an under-construction electric vehicle battery plant in Georgia, a joint venture of South Korea's Hyundai and LG.
Hundreds of workers were arrested, shackled and hauled off to detention, which provoked national outrage in South Korea. Officials in Seoul eventually sent a plane to retrieve and repatriate those workers.
On Sunday, South Korean media reported that Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau had visited the country and "conveyed his deep regrets" for the arrests.
That came just days after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told "The Axios Show" it was Hyundai's fault the workers didn't have the right visas, and that the company should have called him for help.
Driving the news: In a lengthy Truth Social post Sunday afternoon, Trump seemed to open the door to foreign workers coming in for training.
"When Foreign Companies who are building extremely complex products, machines, and various other 'things,' come into the United States with massive Investments, I want them to bring their people of expertise for a period of time to teach and train our people how to make these very unique and complex products" before leaving, Trump said.
"If we didn't do this, all of that massive Investment will never come in the first place — Chips, Semiconductors, Computers, Ships, Trains, and so many other products that we have to learn from others how to make, or, in many cases, relearn, because we used to be great at it, but not anymore."
The big picture: Trump's post serves as a frank acknowledgement that the U.S. lacks the know-how to make many of the goods at the heart of the administration's push for foreign investment.
Hyundai alone is on tap to spend $26 billion in the U.S. building auto and battery plants, and South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung recently warned the raid could chill investment in the U.S.
The country's trade deal with the U.S. also calls for hundreds of billions of dollars in investments, some of which was aimed at restoring the U.S. shipbuilding industry.
The intrigue: American officials had rejected any suggestion the raids would scare off foreign companies from expanding in the U.S., but on Sunday, Trump seemed to acknowledge the risk.
"I don't want to frighten off or disincentivize Investment into America by outside Countries or Companies. We welcome them, we welcome their employees, and we are willing to proudly say we will learn from them, and do even better than them at their own 'game,' sometime into the not too distant future!" he wrote.
What to watch: Whether the departed South Korean workers return to finish the now-delayed plant, and whether Trump's statement thaws the suddenly icy relations with a crucial partner.
https://www.axios.com/2025/09/14/trump- ... eorgia-ice
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