Washington: President Donald Trump announced the creation of a shipbuilding office in the White House centred on revitalising the nation’s commercial and naval shipbuilding industry.
“To boost our defence industrial base, we are also going to resurrect the American shipbuilding industry, including commercial shipbuilding and military shipbuilding,” Trump said during a presidential address to a joint session of Congress, to applause from Republican lawmakers. “And for that purpose, I am announcing tonight that we will create a new office of shipbuilding in the White House and offer special tax incentives to bring this industry home to America where it belongs.
“We used to make so many ships,” the president added. “We don’t make them anymore very much, but we’re going to make them very fast, very soon, it will have a huge impact.” Trump did not specify what kind of financial incentives the office could provide to industry, nor did he provide other details about the role the new office will play in bolstering naval shipbuilding.
The Navy’s shipbuilding industrial base has faced supply chain constraints and workforce shortages after years of consolidation and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the mass retirements of skilled labourers. Over the past couple of years, Congress has provided billions in additional funds to shore up the submarine industrial base, which has been especially impacted by supply chain challenges.
The announcement of the new shipbuilding office is part of what Trump characterised as a focus on building “the most powerful military of the future,” which also includes the construction of a comprehensive missile defence system for the United States homeland that is now being called Golden Dome.
