Trump signs memo permitting foreign shipbuilders to build up to 2 US ships in their shipyards

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in flight on Air Force One after landing at U.S. Air Force Base at RAF Mildenhall, in Suffolk Eastern England, Wednesday, July 8. AP-Yonhap

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a national security memorandum permitting foreign shipbuilders to build up to two ships in their parent shipyards for delivery to the United States, as the U.S. seeks to rebuild its Navy and shipbuilding industrial base.

The memorandum came as the U.S. is stepping up shipbuilding cooperation with Korea, which has committed to investing $150 billion in the U.S. shipbuilding sector as part of a total $350 billion investment pledge under last year's bilateral trade and investment deal.

"As foreign shipbuilders make substantial and durable investments into America's shipyards and train an all-American workforce for the jobs they create, they will be temporarily permitted to build up to two ships in their parent shipyards that will be delivered to bridge gaps on a quick turnaround, while additional ships will be built in revitalized American shipyards," the White House said in a fact sheet.

Under the memorandum, a foreign supplier subject to the memorandum is one that simultaneously builds a new shipyard in the U.S. or assumes ownership or a majority equity position in an existing shipyard in the U.S. — a condition that Korean conglomerate Hanwha meets.

Hanwha acquired Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia in December 2024.

The memorandum directs the Pentagon to pursue more direct investments in the American shipbuilding industrial base based off of the successful "Finland model" -- an approach under which the U.S. would initially acquire vessels more rapidly from allied foreign shipyards before transferring production to the U.S. with foreign investment.

It also directs the defense secretary to establish a fifth naval shipyard, the first in over 80 years, to increase the U.S. submarine and aircraft carrier repair capacity.

In a policy statement to Congress last month, the White House Office of Management and Budget highlighted a "priority" legislative proposal that would authorize the U.S. Navy to contract to build two combat ships and two non-combat auxiliary vessels in foreign shipyards.