Trump admin to send workers abroad to boost US shipbuilding, counter China’s edge

FIRST ON FOX: The U.S. Labor Department is planning to partner up with allies like South Korea and Japan to train U.S. workers to become shipbuilders under President Donald Trump’s push to revitalize the industry. 

While China is massively outpacing the U.S. when it comes to shipbuilding, the Labor Department announced an $8 million funding availability Thursday for an international fellowship program that will pair up U.S. institutions with foreign counterparts to remedy this disparity. 

The four-year proposed project will team up U.S. training centers, registered apprenticeship programs, education institutions like community colleges with foreign training centers, and shipyards in Canada, Finland, Italy, Japan, South Korea and other countries to provide U.S. workers with advanced shipbuilding skills, according to the Labor Department. 

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Construction continues on large-sized liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering facility in Geoje Island, South Korea in 2018. 

The fellowship, led by the Labor Department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs, will prioritize training for boilermakers, industrial electricians, steelworkers, steamfitters, shipwrights and welders.

Likewise, the funding will also go toward creating a specialized, internationally recognized trade curriculum aimed at fostering more advanced training in the U.S. The initiative seeks to garner knowledge from allies and distribute it more widely among workers within the U.S. to expand shipbuilding trade skills domestically. 

"Working closely with our allies will advance the Department of Labor’s mission to create effective shipbuilding apprenticeship programs right here in the United States," Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "President Trump is restoring America’s maritime dominance by preparing our workforce to outcompete China and strengthen our national security."

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"Working closely with our allies will advance the Department of Labor’s mission to create effective shipbuilding apprenticeship programs right here in the United States," Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement to Fox News Digital. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The U.S. is severely behind near-peer competitors like China when it comes to shipbuilding – and allies like South Korea and Japan. China is responsible for more than 50% of global shipbuilding, while South Korea is responsible for nearly 29%, and Japan 13%, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. That’s compared to just 0.1% from the U.S. 

But Trump has directed his attention to the industry, and signed an executive order in April aimed at reinvigorating U.S. shipbuilding. 

Specifically, the executive order called for assessments regarding how the government could bolster financial support through the Defense Production Act, the Department of Defense Office of Strategic Capital, a new Maritime Security Trust Fund, investment from shipbuilders from allied countries and other grant programs.

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President Donald Trump has directed his attention to the shipbuilding industry, and signed an executive order in April aimed at reinvigorating it in the U.S.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

It also instructed agencies to develop a Maritime Action Plan and ordered the U.S. trade representative to compile a list of recommendations to address China’s "anticompetitive actions within the shipbuilding industry." 

The new fellowship program stems from Trump’s executive order, according to the Labor Department. 

Those eligible to apply for the funding opportunity include any commercial, international, educational, or non-profit organizations. That includes any faith-based organizations, community-based organizations, or public international organizations.

The application deadline is Sept. 26.