White House Releases Long-Awaited Maritime Action Plan

The White House released its Maritime Action Plan on February 13, fulfilling an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on April 19 of last year. It is designed to rapidly scale up American shipbuilding to meet the threat of Chinese shipbuilding and naval capabilities, which have dramatically expanded over the past few years until China has dominated world shipbuilding.

The 30-page document uses a “whole of government” approach to revitalizing the shipbuilding sector. “This seminal document, informed not only by domestic imperatives but also by international realities, outlines targeted steps to rejuvenate the MIB,” the plan states.

The plan is developed by the secretary of state and assistant to the president for national security affairs and the director of the Office of Management and Budget, in coordination with the secretaries of war, commerce, labor, transportation, homeland security and the U.S. trade representative.

The American Waterways Operators said, “As the advocate for the American tugboat, towboat and barge industry – the largest segment of U.S. maritime and a vital component of America’s economy, supply chain and national security – AWO commends the Trump administration for its leadership in developing a strategy-driven, comprehensive Maritime Action Plan to substantially strengthen our nation’s maritime capabilities.

“The plan’s focus on key areas such as revitalization of U.S. shipbuilding and enhancement of maritime workforce education and training will be critical to ensuring that our country has the vessels and mariners needed to move America’s commerce and support our national defense. Critically, the plan also recognizes the importance of developing an optimal regulatory framework for the American maritime environment, and we look forward to working with the administration to pursue opportunities to create such a framework that promotes safety, efficiency and innovation.”

Port Fees Proposed—And Suspended

The program was originally set to be funded in large part by port fees levied on Chinese-built or -owned vessel calling at U.S. ports. Last year, beginning on October 14, the U.S. trade representative announced fees of $18 per net ton or $120 per container for Chinese-built vessels, with rates designed to rise to $33 and $250 by 2028. The fees were estimated to raise $3.2 billion for shipyard renewal.

Following pushback from shippers and retaliation from China with its own fees on U.S. vessels, however, the Trump administration and Chinese officials agreed to pause the dueling, industry-disrupting fees until November 10, 2026. But those fees could resume.

Foreign Partnerships

The plan notes, “Less than one percent of new commercial ships are built in the United States. With only 66 total shipyards—consisting of eight active shipbuilding yards, 11 shipyards with build positions, 22 repairs yards with drydocking and 25 topside repairs yards—the United States does not have the capacity necessary to scale up the domestic shipbuilding industry to the rate required to meet national priorities.”

The administration recognizes that some foreign partnerships are needed to get shipbuilding back up to speed. The South Korean firm Hanwha bought Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia in late 2024 and is investing $5 billion in upgrading and expanding it. The United States has already signed shipbuilding partnerships with Finland and South Korea and is exploring another with Turkey to build some ships in sections overseas, to be finished in U.S. shipyards as they ramp up their capabilities, hiring and training.

Regulatory Reform

The plan “calls for policies that modernize government procurement processes and streamline regulations to accelerate shipbuilding and reduce costs. By streamlining regulatory processes, strengthening interagency coordination and providing reliable long-term funding and demand for U.S.-built ships, shipyards and mariners, America will rebuild maritime strength at the speed and scale required to meet the challenges of today and the future.” Much of that streamlining and regulatory reform is being considered in the SHIPS for America Act, still under development in Congress. The plan also ends with a section on removing burdensome regulations.

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly wrote, “As an author of the SHIPS for America Act, I’ve believed for a long time that revitalizing our shipbuilding and commercial maritime industries is something we can and must do together. Today’s release of the administration’s Maritime Action Plan reinforces the urgency of this moment and shows there’s broad agreement on the need to act. … Now Congress needs to build on that momentum and pass the SHIPS for America Act.” Kelly, alongside Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Representatives John Garamendi (D-Calif.-08) and Trent Kelly (R-Miss.-01), reintroduced the SHIPS for America Act in April last year.

The Maritime Action Plan is built around four “pillars.” Pillar I addresses investments in U.S. shipyards, including tax incentives. It also addresses using AI to speed up and improve design times. Pillar II deals with maritime education and workforce training, including modernizing the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy — which is already underway — and investing more in state maritime academies. In Pillar III, “Protect the Maritime Industrial Base,” port fees make a reappearance. “A fee of 1 cent per kilogram on foreign-built ships would yield roughly $66 billion in revenue over 10 years, and a fee of 25 cents per kilogram would yield close to $1.5 trillion in revenue, which could be used for the Maritime Security Trust Fund. As foreign-built vessels benefit from U.S. market access, this policy ensures they contribute to the long-term revitalization of America’s maritime capabilities.”

Pillar IV, “National Security, Economic Security, and Industrial Resilience,” addresses ways to strengthen the maritime industrial base and economy, including by “strengthening component supply chains.”

Among other things, the MAP urges the strengthening of the Ready Reserve Fleet.

‘Just Build The Ships’

In January, Charlie Papavizas, a highly-regarded maritime attorney who has published the first volume of a two-volume history of the Jones Act and who regularly testifies before Congress on maritime matters, wrote an editorial titled “Stop Studying and Build Ships.” Papavizas said the United States has often found itself coming up short with an inadequate merchant marine in times of need. He said existing laws and authorities — some going back to the 1930s — are still on the books and give the administration all the authority it needs to begin building ships to common patterns immediately, as the U.S. did with Liberty Ships just before and during World War II.