With South Korea and China building ships faster and cheaper than U.S., Trump makes shipbuilding a priority

TL;DR

U.S. shipbuilding capacity is drastically lower than China and South Korea, with the U.S. producing only about three cargo ships annually compared to China's 1,000.
The Philadelphia shipyard, one of the last large commercial shipbuilders in the U.S., is outdated and unprofitable, prompting a $100 million investment from South Korean company Hanwha.
Hanwha aims to modernize the Philadelphia yard, increasing production from one ship per year to up to 20, by investing $5 billion and bringing in Korean trainers.
The decline in U.S. shipbuilding poses a national security risk, potentially allowing adversaries to disrupt global trade.
A lack of skilled labor, harsh working conditions, and the need to import key components like propellers and engines contribute to higher costs and longer build times in the U.S.
A century-old law, the Jones Act, requires U.S. domestic cargo to be transported on American-made ships, but the high cost of building these ships in the U.S. (around $1 billion for an LNG tanker) makes it unfeasible, leading to energy supply issues in regions like New England.
Conflicting Trump administration policies, such as high steel tariffs, increase shipbuilding costs, while also hindering efforts to attract skilled immigrant labor crucial for the industry.

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