Construction continues on large-sized liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering facility in Geoje Island, South Korea, in 2018.
The fellowship, led by the Labor Department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs, will prioritize training for boilermakers, industrial electricians, steelworkers, steamfitters, shipwrights and welders.
Likewise, the funding will also go toward creating a specialized, internationally recognized trade curriculum aimed at fostering more advanced training in the U.S. The initiative seeks to garner knowledge from allies and distribute it more widely among workers within the U.S. to expand shipbuilding trade skills domestically.
"Working closely with our allies will advance the Department of Labor’s mission to create effective shipbuilding apprenticeship programs right here in the United States," Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "President Trump is restoring America’s maritime dominance by preparing our workforce to outcompete China and strengthen our national security."
HELP WANTED: US MUST FILL LOTS OF SHIPS-AND-CHIPS JOBS TO BEAT CHINA
President Donald Trump has directed his attention to the shipbuilding industry, and signed an executive order in April aimed at reinvigorating it in the U.S. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
It also instructed agencies to develop a maritime action plan and ordered the U.S. trade representative to compile a list of recommendations to address China’s "anticompetitive actions within the shipbuilding industry."
The new fellowship program stems from Trump’s executive order, according to the Labor Department.
Those eligible to apply for the funding opportunity include any commercial, international, educational, or nonprofit organizations. That includes any faith-based organizations, community-based organizations or public international organizations.
The application deadline is Sept. 26.
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-admin-send-workers-abroad-boost-us-shipbuilding-counter-chinas-edge