SINGAPORE, March 24 (Reuters)–U.S. allies Japan and South Korea would struggle to quickly ramp up shipbuilding to meet U.S. demand for alternatives under President Donald Trump’s plan to impose port fees on China-linked ships, a top Japaneseshippingexecutive said on Monday.
The Trump administration is drafting an executive order in a bid to revive domestic shipbuilding andweaken China’s gripon the industry.
Japanese shipbuilding is running near full capacity, with little scope for expansion until 2028, while shipbuilders in South Korea, as well as in the U.S., face financial challenges, said Takaya Soga, CEO of Nippon Yusen (NYK)9101.T, Japan’s largestshippingline.
“The capacity of Japanese shipbuilding is almost full at the moment, until say 2028. So it is not so easy for them to increase the capacity,” Soga told Reuters on the sidelines of the Singapore Maritime Week conference.
