Exception to prohibition on construction of naval vessels in foreign shipyards

Section 8679 of title 10, United States Code, is amended— (1) in subsection (a), by striking subsection (b) and inserting subsections (b) and (c); and (2) in subsection (b)— (A) in paragraph (1), by striking to do so. and inserting the following: “to do so, if— (A) the foreign shipyard concerned is located in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization member country or a country in the Indo-Pacific Region that is party to a mutual defense treaty with the United States; and (B) the cost of the construction concerned is less than the cost would be if such construction occurred in a domestic shipyard.; and (B) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (3) Before the construction of a naval vessel, or a major component of the hull or superstructure of a naval vessel, may commence at a foreign shipyard pursuant to this subsection, the Secretary of the Navy shall submit to Congress a certification that the foreign shipyard is not owned or operated by a Chinese company or a multinational company domiciled in the People’s Republic of China..