US shipbuilders set to trump Beijing

A draft order includes measures such as raising revenue from Chinese ships and tax credits and grants for shipyards.

A Chinese container ship docked at Miami Beach, Florida. President Donald Trump wants to charge Chinese-flagged vessels every time they use a US port. Picture: AFP

The Trump administration is preparing an executive order aimed at reviving US shipbuilding and cutting Chinese dominance of the global maritime industry.

According to a draft summary, the order includes 18 measures ranging from raising revenue from fees on Chinese-built ships and cranes entering the US, to ­establishing a new office at the National Security Council to strengthen the domestic maritime sector.

The measures also include raising wages for nuclear-shipyard workers and instructions to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to review government procurement processes, including the navy’s.

The document is labelled as a draft and could change. Shipping industry officials said the order could be announced as early as Tuesday night, local time. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The measures draw on bipartisan proposals that have been circulating in Washington for several years. These include pending legislation in congress aimed at restoring US shipbuilding, and proposals floated by the US Trade Representative’s office that would charge fees on Chinese-flagged or Chinese-built ships calling at US ports.

Many of those earlier proposals faced months of scrutiny or an uncertain political process. Mr Trump could fast-track them with a stroke of his pen if implemented as an executive order.

One shipping industry official said the executive order was influenced by Mr Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, who as a member of congress last year co-sponsored bipartisan legislation aimed at expanding the US-flagged fleet and providing financial support and tax incentives to US shipbuilders.

National security concerns have spurred members of both parties to increasingly give priority to the maritime industry amid fears US shipbuilding and the US commercial fleet that would be needed to support wars overseas have fallen decades behind China.

The draft executive order includes measures that create Maritime Opportunity Zones and a Maritime Security Trust Fund to boost investments.

China is the world’s biggest producer of container ships. Almost 29 per cent of vessels in service today when measured by container capacity were made in China, according to data firm Linerlytica.

The Wall Street Journal