South Korea has offered billions in shipbuilding cooperation to the U.S. as part of its July 31 tariff deal, but structural constraints in Washington may prevent Seoul from realizing meaningful strategic or economic returns.

The agreement between the U.S. and South Korea commits Seoul to $350 billion in investments and energy purchases in exchange for reducing blanket tariffs on South Korean exports from 25% to 15%.

While many of the details remain unclear, the Lee Jae-myung administration has stated that $150 billion of the pledged investment will go toward shipbuilding cooperationwith the U.S., tying South Korean industrial capacity