SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Hyundai is set to announce a $20 billion investment in the United States, including a $5 billion steel plant in Louisiana, CNBC reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The plan, which will including hiring around 1,500 employees, will produce next-generation steel that will be used at the company's two U.S. auto plants that manufacture electric vehicles.

Hyundai Steel was not immediately available for comment.

The Louisiana governor's office and the White House were not immediately available for comment.

Hyundai Steel was considering building a steel factory in the southeast United States but nothing had been decided, a spokesperson said earlier this month, adding that a hike in U.S. tariffs would have a negative impact on the Korean steel industry.

U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff action to boost protection for U.S. steel and aluminium producers came into effect earlier this month. It restored effective global tariffs of 25% on all imports of the metals and extended the duties to hundreds of downstream products made from the metals, from nuts and bolts to bulldozer blades and soda cans.