SID SALTER: Will Trump’s campaign rhetoric on U.S. Navy shipbuilding come true?
Trade publication The Maritime Executive reported this week that Huntington Ingalls is expanding operations and that their Pascagoula shipyard is “leading the way in earnings.” The Pascagoula shipyard builds amphibious assault ships, large deck amphibious ships and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers for the Navy. Notably, the Mississippi facility also has the contract for the new national security cutters for the U.S. Coast Guard.
Should Mississippi have invested in Ingalls? Well, every shipbuilding nation on the planet subsidizes the industry in their countries. In the U.S., every state that has shipbuilders likewise invests in trying to retain those shipyard jobs – Virginia lawmakers gave Newport News Shipbuilding $46 million last year. Sound familiar?
Whether Trump keeps his campaign pledge will depend on whether Congress provides the estimated additional $10 billion in federal funding. That’s daunting. But supporting Ingalls – given the subsidies in the rest of the country – seems to have been an inarguably good bet.
Daily Journal
2/26/17
Magnolia Tribune
