Commentary: Big Tent Ideas

It’s Time To Act Against China’s Maritime Tsunami And Rebuild America’s Shipyards

China News Service / Wikimedia Commons

The numbers do not lie and they are a national security emergency.

The latest data available from BRS Shipbrokers (BRS), China’s share of global commercial shipbuilding has exploded from 51 percent in 2022 (2,107 ships) to a staggering 70.9 percent in 2025 (4,055 ships). South Korea, Japan, Europe, and the rest of the world are watching their market shares shrink while Beijing’s shipyards churn out vessels at a pace we can barely comprehend.

This is not just about freighters and tankers. China’s commercial shipbuilding dominance gives the Chinese Communist Party a massive, dual-use industrial base it can surge into naval production in any crisis. While we debate, they build. They are building the world’s largest navy, with the capacity to replace losses overnight, and they are gaining control over the sea lanes that carry 90 percent of global trade.

We have talked about it. We have written reports about it. We have even crafted legislation to fix it. But we have not acted.

That ends now.

As a veteran who survived the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon and commanded a B-1 bomber squadron and Air Force wings, I know what deterrence looks like. It is not speeches. It is steel, welders, and shipyards operating at full capacity. America’s commercial shipbuilding capacity is now less than 1 percent of the global total. We build roughly five large oceangoing commercial vessels per year. China builds over 4,000 now. This gap threatens our supply chains, our merchant marine, our ability to support the entire armed forces in an industrial-scale war with China if deterrence fails, and ultimately our economic sovereignty.

The good news is we already have the blueprint. Congress must pass and fully fund the bipartisan SHIPS for America Act (S.1541) immediately. It includes a 25 percent investment tax credit for shipyard infrastructure, a Maritime Security Trust Fund financed by port fees on foreign-built (especially Chinese) vessels, expanded Title XI loan guarantees, and a national goal to grow the U.S.-flag fleet by 250 ships over ten years.

But we must go further with concrete, aggressive action:

Expand every major existing shipyard immediately. Direct 20 billion dollars over five years in grants, low-interest loans, and accelerated depreciation to modernize and enlarge yards like Huntington Ingalls in Mississippi and Virginia, General Dynamics NASSCO in California, and Bath Iron Works in Maine. Require them to double commercial output within 36 months through modular construction and automation incentives.

Build brand-new, state-of-the-art shipyards. Authorize and fund the construction of at least three greenfield mega-yards on the Gulf Coast (Mississippi), East Coast, and Pacific Northwest. Offer 99-year leases on federal land, infrastructure grants for drydocks and cranes, and guaranteed multi-year contracts for both commercial and auxiliary naval vessels. Use Defense Production Act Title III authorities and the Office of Strategic Capital to de-risk private investment.

Create a true Maritime Industrial Revolution through demand and workforce. Strengthen and enforce the Jones Act, which requires all vessels that transport goods or passengers by water between U.S. points must be built in the U.S., flagged by the U.S., and crewed by U.S. citizens.

Expand cargo preference laws so that 50 percent of all government-impelled cargo moves on U.S.-built, U.S.-crewed ships. Launch a national shipbuilding apprenticeship program targeting veterans, military spouses, and young Americans with paid training at new and expanded yards. Establish innovation hubs for automation and advanced manufacturing so American yards can compete on speed and cost.

Fund it the right way. Establish a dedicated Maritime Security Trust Fund fed by strategic port fees on Chinese-built ships entering U.S. waters (starting at 1 to 3.5 million dollars per docking as proposed in current plans) and redirect those revenues exclusively to domestic shipbuilding. No more talking about it. Make Chinese dominance pay for American resurgence.

President Trump’s Executive Order on Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance and the subsequent Maritime Action Plan laid out the vision. Now it is time for Congress and the Administration to deliver the action. I urge Senator Roger Wicker, the Secretary of the Navy, and every member of Congress who claims to care about deterring China to stop the studies and start swinging hammers.

Every day we fail to act is another day the CCP widens the gap and tightens its grip on the world’s oceans. America built the Arsenal of Democracy in World War II in record time. We can do it again if we choose to act like the superpower we are.

The choice is simple: rebuild our shipyards now, or watch China dominate the seas for a generation. I choose to build.

Let’s get it done.

Rob Maness is a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, 9/11 Pentagon Survivor, Author of What You Can Do About It: Taking Real Action Against Corruption, Radicalism, and Moral Decay to Save America, and Host of The Rob Maness Show.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.