Seoul: Major South Korean shipbuilders have launched a joint task force to support the government's collaboration with the United States under a recently agreed large-scale investment project in the U.S. shipbuilding sector, officials announced.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the top three shipbuilders-HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Hanwha Ocean Co., and Samsung Heavy Industries Co.-along with the Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering Association, have formed the task force and held an inaugural meeting recently. Their focus will be on supporting the "Make American Shipbuilding Great Again" (MASGA) initiative, under which the Seoul government has proposed investing $150 billion in the U.S. shipbuilding industry.
The investment is part of a broader $350 billion package in the U.S., aimed at securing Washington's agreement to lower reciprocal tariffs on South Korean imports to 15 percent from the original 25 percent. "There will be various ways to implement the Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation, and the task force aims to support and facilitate those efforts," an official stated. "The industry is working together with the government for the MASGA project through this task force."
This investment represents the largest single-industry fund in the package and is structured primarily to support Korean shipbuilders' investments in the U.S. through public finance. The MASGA project includes plans for building new shipyards in the U.S., training shipbuilding personnel, rebuilding related supply chains, constructing American ships, and cooperating on maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) projects, as outlined by the Seoul government. However, details are still being finalized.
The task force plans to intensify discussions on the project starting in mid-August, following the industry's summer vacation period. "The task force could serve as a channel for collecting the industry's demands and delivering them to the government," the official added.