America’s supply chains are strained, shipping costs are soaring, and China’s running laps around us. Only a quarter of the U.S. Navy’s fleet was rolled out after 2010, compared to about 70 percent of China’s. China’s rapidly expanding shipbuilding capacity and productivity means they could outbuild and out-repair the U.S. in a real conflict. Our commercial fleet is even worse. Most U.S. container ships are past their prime, while China’s fleet is around half the age, according to a 2022 United Nations Trade and Development report.

Trump addressed America’s declining dominance of the seas in his April 9 “Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance” Executive Order (EO). The goal: make shipbuilding great again by launching the Maritime Action Plan, aimed at rebuilding our domestic maritime industries and workforce to boost economic prosperity and ensure greater self-reliance. The EO also established Maritime Prosperity Zones to encourage development and investment in coastal communities, and a Maritime Security Trust Fund to provide funding for maritime programs and financial incentives for shipbuilding in the U.S.

The EO fact sheet didn’t mince words about the state of U.S. shipping: 0.2% of the world’s ships are built in the U.S., while China builds 74%. When it comes to container ships — the massive ones that actually move global commerce — China makes 96% and not a single one is American-made. With the EO, Trump aimed to push back on China’s “non-market practices” and break its chokehold on global supply chains.