New polling: Americans strongly support U.S. shipbuilding revitalization
For Immediate Release: March 24, 2025
Washington, D.C. — China’s unfair practices and policies in the shipbuilding industry imperil U.S. national security, Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul testified before the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on Monday.
“The largest obstacles to shipbuilding in the United States are the unfair trade and economic practices of China,” Paul said. “While no nation should be faulted for seeking to develop maritime capabilities, Beijing’s ambitions go well beyond that. China’s shipbuilding capacity has been turbocharged through a series of efforts aligned with Five-Year Plans dating back more than two decades.”
Not only has China’s global shipbuilding dominance eroded U.S. defense readiness, it has also led to the loss of more than 70,000 shipbuilding jobs in the United States and many more indirectly.
“Any hope of rebuilding these strategically significant sectors requires decisive action. For all these reasons, AAM strongly supports the relief measures proposed in the United States Trade Representatives’ Section 301 investigation into China’s maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sector,” Paul said.
Paul called on the USTR to direct any funds collected from its proposed docking fee, which would be applied on Chinese operators and ships entering U.S. ports, towards “building American shipbuilding capacity, supporting the U.S. shipbuilding supply chain, and dramatically scaling up workforce training.”
New polling shows widespread agreement among Americans on U.S. shipbuilding:
- The vast majority of Americans (72%) agree that the United States cannot remain dependent on foreign manufacturers to build ships, and more than two in three survey respondents (68%) agree that our nation’s ability to build ships for both commercial and military needs is a matter of national security.
- Most Americans (71%) want the U.S. government to invest in the U.S. shipbuilding industry.
- The bulk of Americans (70%) agree that using Chinese-built drydocks to repair, maintain and retrofit our military vessels threatens U.S. national security.
- Two in three Americans (66%) agree that the U.S. government should invest in our nation’s shipbuilding industry to protect national security.
- A strong majority of Americans (56%) wants a percentage of U.S. exports to be required to be carried on U.S.-built vessels with U.S. crews.
- By a 30-point margin, 49% of Americans support implementing a docking fee on Chinese vessels.
Morning Consult conducted the poll in March on behalf of AAM.
Background:
The U.S. was once the world’s leading shipbuilder. However, decades of neglect coupled with unfair competition with Chinese shipyards has toppled the U.S. ranking to 19th in the world. At its peak in 1975, U.S. shipyards built more than 70 ships a year. Now, they produce fewer than five each year. Meanwhile, China is producing more than 1,700 ships annually.
On March 12, 2024, five national labor unions led by the United Steelworkers petitioned the USTR to launch its investigation, which AAM supported. The USTR initiated a Section 301 investigation in April 2024 and issued its finding on Jan. 16 that China has unfairly advantaged its maritime, logistics and shipbuilding industries through non-market policies and warrants “urgent action.”
Paul is available for interviews. Read his oral and written testimony from Monday’s USTR hearing.
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