SEOUL–South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and U.S. military shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls have agreed to jointly build U.S. navy auxiliary ships, the South Korean shipbuilder said on Sunday.
In a bid to advance cooperation in shipbuilding between the two countries, HD Hyundai and Huntington Ingalls signed a memorandum of agreement in Gyeongju, South Korea, where Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) events will take place throughout next week, HD Hyundai Heavy said in a statement.
U.S. President Donald Trump is set to visit Gyeongju in a few days and hold summit talks with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
Under the agreement, the two companies will explore joint investments in building new shipyards or acquiring existing ship construction facilities in the U.S., according to HD Hyundai Heavy.
Helping Trump revive U.S. shipbuilding, South Korea has pledged to invest $150 billion in the sector, as part of $350 billion of investment funds the Asian country agreed to put into U.S. projects after winning U.S. tariff cuts in late July.
However, details of the broad tariff agreement between the two countries haven’t been hammered out yet. Trump has said it was close to being finalized, while South Korean officials said the two sides were still far apart on key issues.