Overview

• Senators Tammy Duckworth and Andy Kim are meeting leading South Korean and Japanese shipbuilders this week to explore joint construction of auxiliary vessels, regional repair operations.
• They are pursuing regional maintenance, repair and overhaul setups to reduce transit times for ship repairs in the Indo-Pacific.
• South Korea has offered a $150 billion investment pledge under the administration’s shipbuilding initiative; the Pentagon has requested $47 billion for navy ship construction this fiscal year.
• Enabling legislation, revised tax rules and Pentagon procurement alignment remain prerequisites for joint ventures to proceed on U.S. territory.
• China’s merger of state-owned shipbuilders into the CSSC has intensified urgency for the United States and its allies to expand shipyard capabilities and sustain maritime deterrence.