The heads of four labor unions called on President Donald Trump to hasten U.S. shipbuilding initiatives and sanction China for what the U.S. Trade Representative called an “unreasonable” dominance of the maritime and shipbuilding sectors.
In the letter sent last week, the union heads urged Trump to “impose tough penalties against vessels built according to the plans, policies and actions of the Chinese Communist Party and to adopt complementary policies that rebuild America’s shipbuilding capacity and workforce.”
The presidents of the United Steelworkers, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers signed off on the joint letter, arguing that China’s methods for growing its shipbuilding industry undermine American economic and national security.
Those unions, alongside the AFL-CIO’s Maritime Trade Department, filed a formal complaint in March 2024 under the U.S. Trade Act, and were successful in getting the Trade Representative’s office to launch a formal investigation into the practices.
At the conclusion of the nearly nine-month probe, the USTR determined that China’s practices were “actionable” under U.S. Section 301 trade laws. The Section 301 violation enabled both President Trump and President Joe Biden to penalize China by imposing tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. imports since 2018.
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The USTR report indicated that China’s targeting of the maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors “for dominance is enabled by policies that unfairly depress costs or provide advantages.”
That report said China displaces foreign firms in existing markets and prevents them from thriving in new markets, namely since they cannot compete with the country’s state-owned and -subsidized resources.
“As a shipyard worker myself, out of Bath Iron Works in Maine, I have seen firsthand the crippling impacts of China’s predatory actions on our domestic shipbuilding industry,” Brian Bryant, the machinists and aerospace workers union president, said in a separate statement. “For decades, we’ve seen everything from layoffs to shipyard closures to atrophy of our domestic shipbuilding industrial base.”
While the probe began under the Biden administration, the union presidents told Trump, “this responsibility is now in the hands of your administration, and the time to act is now.”
The letter cited some of the statistics already laid out in their petition to the USTR last year, noting that in 2023 the U.S. produced fewer than 10 oceangoing commercial vessels while the PRC produced over 1,000. In 2024, 71 percent of the world’s ship orders went to China’s shipyards.
According to the USTR report, China’s shipbuilding market share increased from less than 5 percent of global tonnage in 1999 to more than 50 percent in 2023. It controls production of 95 percent of the world’s shipping containers and 86 percent of the supply of intermodal chassis.
“Due to their unfair trade action, tens of thousands of U.S. jobs have been lost,” the letter said. “China has more than 5,500 flagged oceangoing merchant vessels while the U.S. has fewer than 80. The ability to produce vessels for commercial use has been slashed and the impact on our military shipbuilding capabilities has been significant. These numbers are staggering, and they demand action.”
As concerns over this gap emerge in D.C., four lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation called the SHIPS for America Act in December to jumpstart national shipbuilding, cut reliance on foreign vessels and place more China-to-U.S. cargo on American vessels.
Within 15 years of that bill’s passing, 10 percent of all cargo imported into the U.S. from China would have to be imported on U.S.-flagged vessels that are also built in the U.S. and staffed by American crews.
President Trump has acknowledged the concern in recent interviews.
“We don’t build ships anymore,” Trump told conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt last month. “We want to get that started. And maybe we’ll use allies, also, in terms of building ships. We might have to.”
In January, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) said she would push for the Trump administration to crack down on China’s dominance through “targeted tariff tools” and by applying port fees to Chinese-built vessels.
On Friday, the USTR followed this up by proposing to impose certain fees and restrictions on international maritime transport services related to Chinese ship operators and Chinese-built ships. The office also opened up comments from the public on the proposed Section 301 actions, and will host a public hearing about the suggestions on March 24.
According to the USTR’s proposal, a Chinese-operated vessel would either pay up to a $1 million service fee per vessel calling at a U.S. port, or pay up to $1,000 per net ton of the ship’s capacity.
Any vessel operator calling a U.S. port with a Chinese-built ship would have to pay up to $1.5 million per port call depending on the percentage of Chinese-built vessels they have in their fleet
Additionally, vessel operators will be charged up to $1 million per port call if more than 50 percent of their newbuilding orders are with Chinese shipyards.
Aside from possible impacts from the current probe, Trump has extended Section 301 actions by placing a 10-percent additional tariff on all China-made goods. While no port fees have been established yet, the U.S. Department of Defense designated China’s largest container shipping firm, Cosco Shipping, as a Chinese military company.