[이코노미스트 안민구 기자] U.S. President Donald Trump cited Korea Zinc’s planned smelter project in Tennessee as an example of investment attracted by his tariff policy.

Speaking at a Republican campaign rally in Clarksville, Tennessee, on Oct. 10, Trump said Korea Zinc was investing more than $6 billion in Montgomery and Smith counties and would create 740 jobs, according to local media reports published the following day.

He also described the project as the first new mineral smelter to be built in the United States since 1979, arguing that his tariffs had encouraged foreign companies to invest in the country.

Korea Zinc is pursuing Project Crucible, an integrated nonferrous metals smelter in Tennessee, with the U.S. government and other partners. The project has a total planned investment of about $7.4 billion.

The facility is expected to produce 11 minerals designated as critical by the U.S. government, including zinc, lead, copper, silver, antimony, indium, bismuth, tellurium, palladium and gallium.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also reportedly cited the project at an Aug. 7 roundtable on critical minerals supply chains at the State Department in Washington. He stressed the need to strengthen domestic supply chains.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) have also discussed the project in their reports. The IEA cited it as an example of critical minerals supply chain diversification, while CSIS described it as a case of the United States and South Korea jointly developing an industrial ecosystem.

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