To understand why the shipbuilding sector has become a focal point of tensions between the world’s two largest economies, and why industry experts are sceptical about Trump’s promise to “bring this industry back to America”, it is useful to examine the industry’s current landscape and the role played by US allies.
Why is the US so determined to target China’s shipbuilding industry?
In the context of the broader rivalry spurred by China’s rising influence, the US argues that China’s expanding maritime capabilities could give it the ability to strangle the US economically and pose a severe threat in potential military conflicts.
That has made targeting China’s dominance in shipbuilding a bipartisan consensus in Washington.
Senator Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona who introduced the Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security (SHIPS) for America Act to Congress in December in an effort to revive the US shipbuilding industry, highlighted the country’s vulnerability – given that 80 per cent of imported goods arrive by sea – which was underscored by increases in shipping price costs during the Covid-19 pandemic due to supply disruptions and port bottlenecks.
“If China wanted to leverage their dominant role in global shipping to hurt our country, to hurt Americans, they could easily do that,” he said in an interview last year.
