Trump's Exec Order on Shipbuilding To Galvanize Military, Civilian Ship Construction

President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order on Wednesday to revive the United States’ shipbuilding industry, pledging to restore American maritime strength amid rising concerns over China’s dominance in global shipping.

The order, signed at the White House, lays out a broad Maritime Action Plan (MAP) that aims to boost domestic ship production, expand mariner training, enforce fee collections at ports, and counter what the administration calls China's “non-market practices” in the shipbuilding sector.

“We used to make so many ships. We don’t make them anymore very much, but we’re going to make them very fast, very soon. It will have a huge impact,” Trump said during a joint address to Congress.

Echoing Trump, Secretary Sean Duffy said, “We don't build ships in America anymore. In 2022, we built five ships. China built 1,800 ships... If you want to be a global power, you have to build ships.”

The plan covers both military and commercial shipbuilding and includes provisions for a new Maritime Security Trust Fund and financial incentives for private investors. The Department of Defense has been instructed to explore options under the Defense Production Act to expand the maritime industrial base.

The initiative also establishes a new Office of Maritime and Industrial Capacity at the National Security Council.

Under the directive, the U.S. Trade Representative is tasked with recommending actions to address China's shipbuilding practices. One such measure includes levying docking fees on vessels affiliated with Chinese-built or Chinese-flagged fleets, a move intended to pressure allies to adopt similar policies.

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security will step up enforcement of harbor maintenance and other cargo fees to prevent shippers from avoiding charges by routing goods through Canada or Mexico.

China currently builds over 50% of the world’s merchant shipping capacity annually—up from 5% in 1999, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

According to The White House, the U.S. builds just 0.2% of the world’s ships—while China builds 74%. Not a single shipping container used to move goods globally is made in the U.S.; China makes 96%. Every ship-to-shore crane operating in American ports is foreign-made, with 80% coming from China. Even the software running U.S. port operations is increasingly Chinese, with almost no domestic alternatives in place.

U.S. shipbuilding hit its peak in the 1970s, but the sector has since contracted due to high costs, regulatory hurdles, and limited private investment. The executive order aims to reverse that trend, focusing on revitalizing port infrastructure, expanding mariner education through the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and designating new “Maritime Prosperity Zones” modeled on Trump’s Opportunity Zones.

The plan also includes a directive to grow the number of U.S.-flagged commercial vessels and prepare Arctic strategies as global competition in the region intensifies.