Shipbuilding companies next after Intel?... US government moving to secure stakes?

Bessent "Shipbuilding neglected for 40 years

An industry that needs self-sufficiency"

Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury Secretary, said on the 27th (local time) that the next target of the Donald Trump administration, which has begun acquiring stakes in domestic companies, could be the shipbuilding industry.

In a Fox Business interview that day, Bessent was asked whether President Trump was considering securing a stake in semiconductor company Nvidia, and he replied, "Nvidia is not a company I think needs financial support, so it is not an immediate consideration." Instead, he hinted at the possibility of acquiring stakes in the shipbuilding industry. He said, "Of course if it's industries like shipbuilding that we are rebuilding," and "These industries are very important ones that must be self-sufficient within the United States, and we have neglected them for the past 20, 30, 40 years."

Earlier this month, President Trump publicly demanded the resignation of Intel CEO Ribhu Tan, but after Tan visited the White House, it was announced that the federal government would take a 10% stake in Intel. Instead of paying the semiconductor support law subsidies promised during the Joe Biden administration as scheduled, the government agreed to receive equity. After introducing the Intel stake acquisition at an event on the 22nd, President Trump said, "I'll make more such deals," leaving open the possibility of additional equity deals. However, no specific industries have been finalized yet.

The previous day, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a CNBC interview that the government was considering acquiring stakes in U.S. defense contractors like Lockheed Martin. But that day Bessent expressed a negative view, saying, "I'm not sure we need to hold stakes in defense contractors." He added, "We will see whether defense contractors are fulfilling their mission in terms of timely delivery to the U.S. military, and whether they are overemphasizing shareholder interests."

Meanwhile, if the U.S. government seeks stakes in shipbuilding companies, it could also affect South Korea, which has initiated shipbuilding cooperation with the United States, because the U.S. government's influence across the industry could grow. Discussions could proceed together with the shipbuilding-specific investment package that Korea has offered to the United States. The Korean government proposed the 'MASGA (Make American shipbuilding great again) project' in tariff negotiations with the United States, and offered $150 billion as a shipbuilding-specific investment package.

Reporter Han Gyeongje hankyung@hankyung.com