Industry applauds wide ranging Trump executive order on maritime

Phto: White House

President Trump’s much anticipated executive order on maritime turns out to be far more comprehensive than some preliminary reports had suggested. And it’s getting applause from across the maritime industry.

“The Shipbuilders Council of America supports President Trump’s action to restore and strengthen America’s shipbuilding and ship repair industry,” said Matthew Paxton, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America. “The establishment of a Maritime Action Plan that includes a Maritime Security Trust Fund, strategic commercial fleet program, along with new tax credits, grants, and strategic investments, will provide a powerful environment to rebuild our shipbuilding capacity and build the fleet of the future.”

“The American Waterways Operators commends President Trump for issuing his executive order on Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance, and for recognizing the critical importance of a robust American maritime industrial base and maritime workforce to our nation’s security and prosperity,” said Jennifer Carpenter, president and CEO, The American Waterways Operators. “As the largest segment of U.S. maritime, the American tugboat, towboat and barge industry stands ready to work with the Trump Administration to further grow and strengthen domestic waterways commerce, address China’s maritime expansionism, and identify opportunities to remove unnecessary regulatory barriers to innovation.”

PURPOSE

In its statement of purpose, the executive order states:

“The commercial shipbuilding capacity and maritime workforce of the United States has been weakened by decades of Government neglect, leading to the decline of a once strong industrial base while simultaneously empowering our adversaries and eroding United States national security. Both our allies and our strategic competitors produce ships for a fraction of the cost needed in the United States. Recent data shows that the United States constructs less than one percent of commercial ships globally, while the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is responsible for producing approximately half.
Rectifying these issues requires a comprehensive approach that includes securing consistent, predictable, and durable Federal funding, making United States-flagged and built vessels commercially competitive in international commerce, rebuilding America’s maritime manufacturing capabilities (the Maritime Industrial Base), and expanding and strengthening the recruitment, training, and retention of the relevant workforce.”

HIGHLIGHTS

Here are the highlights of the executive order on maritime as set out in a White House fact sheet:

REVITALIZING U.S. MARITIME POWER: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a historic Executive Order to restore American maritime dominance.

• The Order directs the creation of a Maritime Action Plan (MAP) to revitalize U.S. maritime industries.
  • The MAP will provide a strategy with specific actions to restore and create sustained resiliency for the American maritime industry.
• Up until now, government procurement processes and over-regulation have hindered private industry’s ability to build vessels on time and on budget—this Order reverses that trend.
• It instructs the Secretary of Defense to assess options, including the Defense Production Act Title III authorities, to invest in and expand the Maritime Industrial Base.
  • Such an action will help better utilize and leverage existing authorities to spur public and private investment in the Maritime Industrial Base.
• The Order directs the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to make recommendations regarding China’s anticompetitive actions within the shipbuilding industry.
• It also directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to enforce collection of the Harbor Maintenance Fee and other charges on foreign cargo entering the United States to prevent circumvention via Canada or Mexico.
  • This will put an end to a longstanding unfair practice, ensuring all cargoes entering the United States are assessed the proper applicable fees and generating additional revenue for investment into the maritime industry.
• The U.S. government will work with our allies and partners to align trade policies to disrupt China’s non-market practices in the international supply chain and logistics sectors.
• The Order establishes a Maritime Security Trust Fund to provide consistent funding for maritime programs in addition to a shipbuilding financial incentives program to boost private investment in U.S. shipbuilding.
• It develops Maritime Prosperity Zones to incentivize investment in waterfront communities and is to be modeled on President Trump’s highly successful Opportunity Zone concept.
• It expands Mariner training and education through an investment in the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and a plan for expanding training opportunities.
• To ensure national economic security, the U.S. government will increase the fleet of commercial vessels trading internationally under U.S. flag as well as domestically between our ports.
• The MAP will develop a strategy to ensure security and leadership of arctic waterways to address the growing presence of foreign nations in the region and the need for the United States to reestablish itself in the area.
• The Administration will review ways to improve competition within the private sector for government projects and reduce costs to ensure taxpayer funds are being utilized most efficiently.
• The Order directs the Secretary of Defense to conduct a review and issue guidance on the funding, retention, support, and mobilization of a robust inactive reserve fleet, to ensure we have adequate assured access to sealift capacity whenever needed for military operations.

RESURRECTING THE AMERICAN MARITIME INDUSTRY: After being weakened by decades of government neglect, President Trump is prioritizing the revitalization of the U.S. maritime industry to strengthen the nation’s economic and national security as part of the America First Agenda.

• 0.2% of the world’s ships are built by the United States, compared to 74% built by China.
• 0% of the containers used to move commodities around the world are built by the United States, compared to 96% built by China.
• 0% of the ship-to-shore cranes in the United States are built domestically, compared to 80% built by China.
• Chinese state-owned software is being installed in port operations across the United States, with limited to no alternatives.

MAKING SHIPBUILDING GREAT AGAIN: President Trump cares deeply about revitalizing shipbuilding and strengthening America’s maritime power.  

• During the joint address to Congress, President Trump vowed to “resurrect the American shipbuilding industry, including commercial shipbuilding and military shipbuilding.”
  • President Trump: “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.”
• To demonstrate the seriousness with which President Trump views this issue, he also established a new Office of Maritime and Industrial Capacity at the National Security Council in the White House.

You can read the complete executive order HERE