By Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to rebuild U.S. shipbuilding is finding rare bipartisan support from Americans, with 72% saying the U.S. cannot remain dependent on China and other foreign producers to build ships, a poll released Friday showed.
The survey of 2,204 adults, conducted by Morning Consult for the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) on March 10-12, showed strong concern about China’s grip on the $150 billion global ocean shipping industry, and the negative national security implications for the United States.
Only 11% said the U.S. could rely on China and other countries to build ships for U.S. commercial and military needs.
“This is one of those rare moments where there’s a strong bipartisan thread here of wanting to move forward,” AAM President Scott Paul said. “And there’s pretty good support on Capitol Hill for being aggressive on shipbuilding as well.”
AAM, a policy group led by the United Steelworkers union and domestic manufacturers, released the poll ahead of a hearing to be held on Monday by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on proposed remedies, including charging up to $1.5 million for Chinese-built vessels entering U.S. ports.
The Trump administration announced the proposed remedies, which also call for at least 1% of U.S. exports to be shipped on U.S.-flagged vessels, a month after the Biden administration concluded in a fast-track investigation that China unfairly dominates the global maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, paving the way for penalties.
That probe was launched in April 2024 at the request of the United Steelworkers and four other unions, and conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, as a way to rebuild an industry that has been in deep decline since the 1970s, when Japan and South Korea dominated shipbuilding.
The China Shipowners’ Association opposes the U.S. proposal to impose hefty port entry fees on ocean cargo carriers that own or have ordered vessels from China, saying it violates international rules and U.S. laws.
But public support for the measures is strong, Paul said.
The poll showed that 68% of Americans agreed that the United States’ ability to build ships for both commercial and military needs is a matter of national security and 71% want the U.S. government to invest in the U.S. shipbuilding industry.
Seventy percent agreed that using Chinese-built floating docks to repair, maintain and retrofit U.S. military vessels threatens U.S. national security, the poll indicated.
Nearly half of those polled (49%) backed implementation of a docking fee on Chinese vessels to encourage U.S. shipbuilding, and 56% favored requiring a percentage of U.S. exports to be transported on U.S.-built vessels with U.S. crews.
Trump first announced his plans during an address to Congress in early March. He is expected to sign an executive order in coming weeks building on the USTR recommendations and would impose fees on imports arriving on Chinese-made ships, while offering tax credits to resuscitate domestic shipbuilding.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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