A U.S. think tank suggested that cooperation with allies such as Korea is crucial for the United States to rebuild its shipbuilding industry and restore its maritime dominance.
According to the related industry on Oct. 19, Michael Roberts, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said this in a recent op-ed titled "Restoring America's Maritime Power."
Senior Fellow Roberts highlighted the threat of China's naval power and stressed the need to rebuild the U.S. shipbuilding industry.
He said, "Each time a U.S. shipyard delivers a warship to the U.S. Navy, Chinese shipyards deliver three warships to their navy," explaining that this is "because of economies of scale created by low-wage labor, vast supply chains, and a state-led monopoly structure in commercial shipbuilding."
He went on to emphasize that China has become the most serious challenger to the United States' global leadership since the Soviet Union in the Cold War, but there is a decisive difference, saying, "Unlike the Soviet Union, China treats dominance in the military and commercial maritime domains as a core element of its national strategy."
Roberts then said that cooperation in shipbuilding with allies, including Korea, is essential in the current situation.
He said, "Just as the United States can strengthen Korea's security in the energy and industrial sectors, Korea's shipbuilding technology can substantively support the restoration of America's maritime capabilities," and, citing Hanwha Group's acquisition of the U.S. Philly Shipyard, predicted, "Hanwha's plan will create jobs for skilled U.S. shipbuilding workers and transfer world-class shipbuilding technology to the United States."
With the two countries recently expected to hold follow-up discussions on tariffs and trade, attention is on whether Korea's shipbuilding industry can serve as leverage at the negotiating table. On Oct. 16 (local time), Presidential Chief of Staff for Policy Kim Yong-beom and Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jung-kwan visited the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) at the White House for negotiations and discussed ways to cooperate in shipbuilding.
After the meeting, the Minister said, "We are having various constructive discussions about 'MASGA (Make American Shipbuilding Great Again),'" and noted, "We talked about what specific projects to undertake."