Newport News, HII Pascagoula, Bath Iron Works — none have built commercial ships in at least 25 years. NASSCO hasn’t delivered a commercial ship since 2020 and has none on their orderbook. Bollinger/VT Halter not since 2019. Per a 2021 MARAD report, commercial construction/repair accounts for less than 25% of US shipbuilding revenue (pg 12 https://www.maritime.dot.gov/sites/marad.dot.gov/files/2021-06/Economic%20Contributions%20of%20U.S.%20Shipbuilding%20and%20Repairing%20Industry.pdf). The idea that large US shipyards all go out of business without the JA just isn’t supported by the evidence.
At that point, people like you will say ‘well, if we don’t have the ability to build our own ships, then why do we need all this high priced/first world labor on the ships?’
I don’t see how that follows at all. There is no US built requirement for aircraft, yet where are the voices clamoring to remove the labor provisions of US air cabotage laws? In fact, I suspect that if the JA’s build requirement was removed that complaints about the JA and calls for its repeal would diminish as the competitiveness of US shipping increased and the law’s burden diminished.
I’m sure China will allow Korea to still build and export sea lift ships to the US once the shooting starts.’
Relying on China and Korea for sealift ships is the status quo. “US-built” cargo ships are HIGHLY reliant on parts and components — and even steel — from Korea and China (last JA ship delivered, the JANET MARIE, features components from the China State Shipbuilding Corporation, Jiangsu Xiangsheng Heavy Industries, and Zhenjiang Tongzhou Propeller Co).
Anyone who thinks the JA frees the US from dependence on foreigners for its shipbuilding needs is dreaming.