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Park Chan-kyong

South Korean shipbuilders could be among the first US partners to benefit from President Donald Trump’s push to rebuild America’s naval industrial base, analysts have said.
Trump last week signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum allowing foreign shipbuilders with US investments to build up to two vessels at their parent shipyards – a move aimed at quickly addressing gaps in US Navy capacity while restoring the country’s own shipbuilding sector.
The directive comes as Washington seeks to strengthen its naval position against China in the Indo-Pacific, where US officials have warned that America’s shipbuilding capacity has fallen behind strategic demand.
Under the memorandum, foreign companies must either build a new US shipyard or acquire a controlling stake in an existing one – a requirement that South Korea’s Hanwha already meets after taking over Philadelphia’s Philly Shipyard, one of the few large commercial yards on the US east coast, in 2024.
Foreign shipbuilders must also train American workers and transfer proprietary techniques to their US operations. Additional vessels will have to be built in the US.
“We’re now studying this announcement,” a Hanwha Ocean spokesman said, declining to give further details.

Trump signed the memorandum to “fix critical long-term issues in navy shipbuilding and ship repair programmes and restore capacity and competition to the maritime industrial base”, the White House said last week.
The interim measure was designed to “bridge gaps on a quick turnaround, while additional ships will be built in revitalised American shipyards”, it said.
The opportunity for South Korean shipbuilders comes as Trump is sending mixed signals to Seoul on security cooperation, saying in a social media post on Sunday that he had instructed Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to “substantially reduce” joint military exercises with South Korea because of their cost and the signal they sent to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
South Korea on his mind
The US move provides a strategic opening for allied shipbuilders from South Korea, Japan and Australia to integrate more deeply into the US defence market, according to analysts.
“Which country is on top of President Trump’s mind? It’s an easy guess. It’s South Korea, of course,” said Moon Keun-sik, a maritime expert and professor at Hanyang University.
Moon said Trump asked him whether South Korea could help build 10 US military vessels quickly when they met at June’s G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France. Moon’s reply: “Of course it is possible, and we will do our best.”
Both sides held follow-up discussions at Trump’s request during the Nato summit in Turkey last month. Officials from both countries agreed to establish a working-level group to further discuss shipbuilding cooperation.
South Korea has committed to putting in US$150 billion in the US shipbuilding sector as part of a US$350 billion investment pledge under last year’s bilateral trade and investment deal.
The large-scale cooperation project, dubbed “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again”, is part of the Trump administration’s aim to rebuild the industry in the US in response to China’s capacity.


“The security memorandum is an administrative order. For long-term cooperation with allies, legislative steps should be taken to amend existing laws”, Moon said. This includes the Byrnes-Tollefson Amendment, which requires navy vessels to be constructed in US shipyards.
Jang Won-joon, a professor at Jeonbuk National University’s Department of Advanced Defence Industry Studies, said the US was under pressure to seek help from allies to bolster its naval power against China in the Indo-Pacific.
“Cooperation between South Korea and the United States in this sector is highly likely to expand further beyond the existing MRO [maintenance, repair and overhaul] services to the construction of US military vessels, technology transfer and worker training,” he said.
Biggest beneficiaries
Hanwha Group is widely seen as the best-placed South Korean company to benefit from the new opening, not only because of its US foothold but also because it has already begun expanding production capacity there.
Since acquiring Philly Shipyard, Hanwha has invested more than US$200 million to upgrade its workforce, capabilities and production capacity. It plans to finance an additional US$5 billion, with the goal of increasing its annual shipbuilding capacity from the current 1 to 1.5 vessels to 20.
This could support a strategy in which initial US warships are rapidly constructed at Hanwha Ocean’s Geoje facility in South Korea, while subsequent vessels are produced at the Philly Shipyard.
The company is also pursuing additional shipbuilding facilities in the US.
Hanwha Ocean, the South Korean parent company of Hanwha Philly Shipyard, is already providing MRO services to the US Navy.
In March, the company said its US subsidiaries – Defence USA and Philly Shipyard – had been selected as subcontractors partnering Vard Marine US on the navy’s next generation logistics ship programme. Financial terms of the contract, a major step towards gaining access to the US defence market, were not disclosed.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought last month announced a US$2 billion investment to build two specialised missile-tracking and range instrumentation ships for the US military at Hanwha Philly Shipyard.
Hanwha has also submitted an acquisition offer of between US$1.05 billion and US$1.2 billion for Austal USA, which builds vessels for the US Navy and Coast Guard. If successful, this will give it a second US naval vessel production base – in Mobile, Alabama.
The company has already increased its stake in the global defence shipbuilder to 19.9 per cent after receiving approval from the Australian government.
“Hanwha has made it a priority to significantly contribute to revitalising American shipbuilding and is exploring a range of options to expand our footprint in the US,” the company said.
Jang said the acquisition, if successful, “would mark a decisive step forward in advancing into the US maritime defence market”.
South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries are also eyeing a wider role.
HD Hyundai is collaborating with Huntington Ingalls Industries, the largest US defence shipbuilder, on ship construction and shipyard modernisation.
Samsung Heavy Industries is also expanding cooperation with US shipbuilders in areas including unmanned surface vessels and maintenance, repair and overhaul services.
If these efforts lead to greater local investment in the US, competition among South Korean shipbuilders to win US Navy vessel orders could intensify, according to Jang.
“Hanwha Ocean and Hyundai are expected to be front runners in the competition for this order.”


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The president is allowing foreign shipbuilders with US investments to build up to two vessels at their parent shipyards


The president is allowing foreign shipbuilders with US investments to build up to two vessels at their parent shipyards.


South Korean shipbuilders first to benefit from Trump’s plan to keep US Navy afloat

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The president is allowing foreign shipbuilders with US investments to build up to two vessels at their parent shipyards

The president is allowing foreign shipbuilders with US investments to build up to two vessels at their parent shipyards