Speaking Wednesday at the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Trump said his administration would consider South Korean and other foreign companies as part of its shipbuilding efforts.
“We’re going to probably look at some of these companies that are coming in from South Korea and other places,” Trump said, adding that the companies were already working with the United States on ships.
“We’re going to also buy some ships that are made outside of the area,” he said. “We need a lot of ships for our Navy.”
Trump said the United States still had the world’s most powerful Navy but warned that many of its vessels were aging after the country had largely withdrawn from the shipbuilding business.
It was not immediately clear whether Trump’s reference to ships made “outside of the area” meant vessels constructed outside the United States. Still, the remarks are likely to fuel speculation that his administration is considering a larger role for allied shipyards, including those in South Korea, in rebuilding the U.S. fleet.
Michael Coulter, president and CEO of Hanwha Defense USA, highlighted South Korea’s shipbuilding capacity in remarks delivered before Trump took the stage.
“Our shipyard in Korea puts out about one ship a week. We have a plan to bring that capability to Philadelphia,” Coulter said. He added that Hanwha intended to help make Philadelphia a center of the Trump administration’s “Make American Shipbuilding Great Again” initiative.
Hanwha Group acquired the Philadelphia shipyard in 2024 and has been investing in automation, workforce expansion and production facilities as it seeks to transfer South Korean shipbuilding techniques to the United States.
Trump has repeatedly emphasized cooperation with South Korea since the two countries began negotiations over trade and investment last year.
A joint fact sheet released following a summit between Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said their economic agreement included $150 billion in approved South Korean investment in the U.S. shipbuilding sector, as part of a broader $350 billion investment package.
Lee said last month that Trump had asked him during the G7 summit in France whether South Korea could quickly build 10 warships for the United States.
The Pentagon and the U.S. Navy recently sent requests for information to major South Korean shipbuilders regarding combat vessels and medium-sized replenishment oilers.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean submitted information on their warship design capabilities and production capacity, while the two companies and Samsung Heavy Industries responded to a separate request involving naval oilers. The requests are an initial market-research step and do not guarantee that the United States will proceed with purchases.
Significant legal barriers would also have to be addressed before U.S. warships could be built in South Korea.
Under Section 8679 of Title 10 of the U.S. Code, vessels for the U.S. armed forces — as well as major components of their hulls or superstructures — generally cannot be constructed in foreign shipyards.
The president may grant an exception when it is deemed necessary for U.S. national security, but the administration must notify Congress and wait 30 days before entering into a contract under the waiver. A broader shift toward routinely building naval vessels overseas would likely require action by Congress rather than an executive order alone.
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