Trump signs memo allowing foreign shipbuilders investing in US to build up to 2 vessels at home

President Donald Trump signed a memorandum Thursday (local time) allowing foreign shipbuilders that have invested in the United States to build up to two vessels at their home shipyards.

Under the memorandum, the measure applies to foreign shipbuilders that are "simultaneously constructing a new shipyard in the United States, or have acquired ownership or a majority stake in an existing US shipyard." Hanwha, which acquired Philadelphia's Philly Shipyard, appears to fall under that criterion.

Trump attached a condition, however, stipulating that "all vessels beyond the first two must be built at a US shipyard."

In a fact sheet accompanying the memorandum, the White House said the directive instructs the Department of War (Ministry of National Defense) to pursue "more direct investment in the US shipbuilding industrial base, modeled on the 'Finland model' first applied successfully in the Coast Guard's medium icebreaker program."

The fact sheet added that the measure "temporarily allows foreign shipbuilders to build up to two vessels at their parent shipyard in their home country while they make substantial and sustained investments in US shipyards and train American workers to fill the jobs they create."