Shippingtelegraph:Trump says U.S. to buy ships from S. Korea, revive US shipbuilding industry

by Shipping Telegraph

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has pledged to revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding industry during his official visit to the United States.

President Lee’s visit to the U.S. has been marked by his commitment to rejuvenating the American shipbuilding sector. He met with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday at the White House in Washington, discussing a bilateral cooperation centered on shipbuilding.

“We are thinking about contracting some ships. They build them very well in South Korea. They’re also thinking about coming to our country with some shipyards to start us on the process of building ships again,” Trump told reporters as he hosted South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at the White House.

“We were building ships all the time for everybody, and presidents and people allowed that to slip by,” the president noted.

Noting that during World War II, they were building “a ship a day,” Trump said those were tankers and different kinds of ships and that they were very active.

He said they will buy ships from South Korea, but they are also going to have the South Koreans make ships in the US with the American people “and we’re going to go back into the shipbuilding business again.”

President Lee responded by saying, “The U.S. is apparently becoming great again,” adding, “A Renaissance is taking place not only in shipbuilding but also manufacturing, and I hope the Republic of Korea can be part of this process.”

Both leaders nodded to a burgeoning shipbuilding agreement, with Trump pledging to purchase ships from South Korea.

Trump has made revitalizing U.S. shipbuilding a priority to try to close the gap with dominant China.

Since his reelection, he has repeatedly raised the prospect of working with South Korea, the world’s second-largest shipbuilder behind China.

South Korean shipbuilders such as HD Hyundai have also announced plans to strengthen U.S. maritime capabilities through various partnerships and investments.

Last week, South Korea’s minister of trade, industry and energy Kim Jung-kwan met with U.S. senators in Seoul to discuss ways to bolster bilateral cooperation and expand investment in shipbuilding and other industries.

In the meeting with senators of the democratic party Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Andrew Kim of New Jersey, the Korean minister Kim requested unwavering attention and support for Korean companies that have established operations in both states, and throughout the U.S.

Industry minister Kim expressed hope that the US Congress would support diversifying bilateral shipbuilding cooperation from merchant ships to naval vessels.

He cited Hanwha Philly Shipyard near New Jersey as an example of shipbuilding cooperation between the two countries, noting the collaboration between the Korean shipbuilder and the state in sourcing qualified professionals and rebuilding the shipbuilding ecosystem.

U.S. senators Tammy Duckworth and Andy Kim held also a roundtable on August 19 with three Korean shipbuilders, Hanwha Ocean, HD Hyundai, and Samsung Heavy Industries, according to the S. Korean ministry of foreign affairs.

During the roundtable, the Korean shipbuilders emphasized the need for regulatory reforms in the United States to facilitate their successful access to the U.S., proposing measures for strengthening bilateral cooperation.

They also expressed readiness to expand technology and workforce exchanges with U.S. counterparts, contributing to innovation in shipbuilding technologies and the training of skilled personnel in the United States.

In response, the senators emphasized that the revitalization of the U.S. shipbuilding industry is emerging as a national security issue in the United States, highlighting strong interest in U.S.-Korea shipbuilding cooperation as an essential part of this effort.

HD Hyundai signed on Monday a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a multi-billion-dollar investment program to revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding industry, marking the first milestone in the ‘Make American Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA)’ initiative.

The Korean shipbuilding giant said it had signed the agreement with Cerberus Capital and the Korea Development Bank (KDB) at the InterContinental The Willard in Washington, D.C., to establish a Korea-U.S. maritime joint investment program.

The investment program aims to revitalize and enhance the maritime capabilities of the United States and allied nations, covering U.S. shipbuilding, maritime infrastructure, and advanced marine technologies, according to HD Hyundai.

The firms will prioritize investment in three areas: U.S. shipyard acquisition and modernization, supply chain reinforcement through capital investment in equipment and component suppliers and advanced shipbuilding technology development, including autonomous navigation and artificial intelligence (AI).