The US Trump administration have announced new measures intended to promote its own domestic shipbuilding industry. One aspect of this, Chinese vessels will be charged extra for berthing at US ports. But, will this have the effect desired, and if it does, what impact will this have on the economy of the US?
Check this out here: https://www.reuters.com/business/trumps-shipbuilding-plan-could-upend-ocean-cargo-industry-companies-warn-2025-03-07/
The main effect will be to load costs onto American consumers. Worldwide, it could lead to lower costs as Chinese vessels may start to avoid US ports, leading to more capacity available elsewhere, resulting in lower rates for shipping to non-US ports. It's so complicated, it is very hard to predict the result, but one thing I can say for certain: it does not make sense to make merchant vessels in the US as they'd be much more expensive and that's even if you can get one built. There aren't enough workers in the sector to supply many more ships being built.
And then, China won't sit around doing nothing about this. Like their recent stopping importing US lumber, they may target other goods, or refuse to export key minerals to the US, further skewing markets. Basically, the US consumer pays, and US workers will lose their jobs, just so a few extra merchant marine ships get built. This would make the real cost of building a US merchant ship, 50 times greater than competitors.
China has also started buying port operations around the world. But, something it hasn't done is open military bases. So, are these civil operations a problem, or is the investment beneficial?
The following are two videos outlining some of the issues. However, given the US is now setting out to alienate its closest neighbours and allies, dealing with China seems sensible as they aren't as capricious.
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