Archive · 11 Aug 2026
Trump tariffs draw foreign investment while US supplier gaps loom
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, wants more things to be made in America.
He put extra taxes, called tariffs, on things brought in from other countries.
That makes foreign companies want to build their factories in the US.
But there is a problem: America does not have enough small companies that make the parts these factories need.
A big shipyard in Philadelphia, owned by a South Korean company called Hanwha, plans to spend $5 billion and hire many more workers.
Building just one large ship needs parts from more than 1,000 different suppliers.
Right now, about two-thirds of those parts come from US companies.
Government leaders, like Assistant Treasury Secretary Chris Pilkerton, are trying to help small American businesses make more of these parts.
They started a new program to find where supply gaps are.
Officials say fixing this will take time, but they think it is important for America's factories to succeed.
US officials said President Donald Trump's tariffs and deregulation are encouraging foreign companies to bring manufacturing and capital to the United States.
Officials acknowledged a shortage of domestic suppliers threatens the administration's industrial revival.
Hanwha Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia has committed $5 billion in investment, which could raise employment from about 2,000 workers to as many as 10,000.
Building a single large vessel depends on more than 1,000 suppliers, roughly two-thirds of which are currently based in the United States.
The Treasury's new Strategic Vendor Program, still in pilot phase, aims to identify supply chain gaps and help small US firms fill them.
- Who
- US officials including Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Chris Pilkerton and Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler, along with Hanwha Philly Shipyard CEO David Kim.
- What
- Tariffs and deregulation are drawing foreign investment into US manufacturing, but a shortage of domestic suppliers threatens the industrial revival.
- When
- Current administration push; Hanwha's Philadelphia shipyard acquisition was completed in December 2024, with $5 billion investment planned over coming years.
- Where
- United States, highlighted by Hanwha Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia and a quantum refrigeration company in Syracuse, New York.
- Why
- To rebuild US industrial capacity after decades of decline in which the country lost roughly 90,000 factories and about 5 million manufacturing jobs.
- Hanwha committed investment
- $5 billion in the Philadelphia shipyard
- Possible employment
- From about 2,000 workers to as many as 10,000
- Investment already made
- More than $200 million for workforce training, production systems and shipbuilding capacity
- Suppliers per vessel
- More than 1,000, about two-thirds US-based
- SBA manufacturing funding (2025)
- About $3 billion, including $32 million for shipbuilding
- US industrial decline
- Roughly 90,000 factories and about 5 million manufacturing jobs lost over the past four to five decades
- Acquisition completion
- December 2024, reviewed by CFIUS
- Strategic Vendor Program status
- Pilot phase; detailed vendor selection criteria not yet released