David Akachukwu
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On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order focused on revitalizing the nation’s shipbuilding sector and countering China’s expanding influence in the global maritime industry. He also pledged to allocate more funding to support this initiative in the years ahead.
For some time, U.S. lawmakers have raised concerns over China’s increasing control of international shipping lanes and the perceived decline in America’s naval readiness.
Senators Mark Kelly (Democrat) and Todd Young (Republican) expressed support for the executive action. They announced plans to reintroduce bipartisan legislation aimed at securing congressional approval to help reinvigorate the domestic shipbuilding industry.
Under the executive order, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is directed to proceed with a proposal that includes imposing substantial docking fees at American ports on vessels associated with Chinese-built or Chinese-flagged fleets.
However, this proposal has been met with strong opposition from trade organizations, shipping companies, and exporters of goods. They warned that the port fee recommendations could cause serious disruptions to supply chains, increase inflation, and lead to job losses in key port communities.
Jamieson Greer, a spokesperson for the USTR, stated that a final decision regarding these proposed measures is expected by mid-month. He reiterated remarks made on Tuesday, clarifying that not every aspect of the initial proposal would necessarily be implemented.
“This could have been a miscommunication issue, some people thought that all of those measures would be imposed,” Greer said.
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In addition, the order instructs the USTR to consider implementing tariffs on ship-to-shore cranes and other cargo handling equipment either made using Chinese parts, assembled in China, or produced by companies linked to Chinese nationals, even if manufacturing occurred elsewhere.
The Department of Homeland Security has also been tasked with ensuring proper enforcement of Harbor Maintenance Fees and other related charges. The order emphasizes preventing shipping companies from evading these fees by rerouting goods through ports in Mexico or Canada before transporting them into the U.S. via land routes.
During remarks from the Oval Office, President Trump said the United States would invest heavily to rebuild its shipbuilding capacity.
“We’re way, way, way behind. We used to build a ship a day, and now we don’t do a ship a year, practically, and we have the capacity to do it,” he told reporters.
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