America Wants to Rebuild Shipyards, but Strategy Conflicts Threaten the Maritime Comeback
America has oceans on both sides — but barely any shipyards left to fill them. The US now controls less than 1% of global commercial shipbuilding, operates just eight yards capable of building vessels over 400 feet, and is outproduced by China at a 200-to-1 ratio. To tackle this problem, the Trump administration has released a Maritime Action Plan (MAP) to revive the sector.
Charting shipbuilding courses: The White House aims to rebuild domestic shipbuilding through hundreds of billions in federal financing, new Maritime Prosperity Zones, and potential fees on foreign-built vessels calling at US ports. The strategy centers on four pillars — expanding shipyard capacity, strengthening workforce training, protecting the maritime industrial base, and supporting national security. Yet a core tension sits at the heart of the plan — President Trump has pushed ultra-expensive “golden fleet” warships, while his own Office of Management and Budget recommends a very different path.
- The plan proposes creating 100 Maritime Prosperity Zones across coasts, inland rivers, the Great Lakes, and US territories to drive waterfront investment over the next decade.
- It also suggests a fee on foreign-built vessels calling at US ports, which could generate $66B to nearly $1.5T over ten years to fund domestic shipbuilding capacity.
Warship Strategy Reset
According to the Financial Times, the administration’s maritime experts are urging the use of existing commercial or government vessel designs that can be adapted for multiple missions with minimal modification — essentially cheaper, flexible ships built in partnership with allies. The approach reflects a changing battlefield where drone warfare can destroy multibillion-dollar vessels in seconds, and 90% of military supplies still move on commercial fleets. The Navy appears to be taking note, with its FY2027 budget proposal potentially doubling ship procurement to 34 new vessels compared with 2026 levels.
- The US Coast Guard signed contracts with Davie Defense (UK-owned Inocea’s US arm) to build Arctic security cutters while exploring shipbuilding partnerships with South Korea and Greece.
- The US currently has just 66 shipyards, including eight active builders, 11 with build positions, 22 repair yards with drydocking capability, and 25 topside repair facilities.
Building the structure: Three defense contractors sit at the center of any US shipbuilding revival: Huntington Ingalls IndustriesHII, General DynamicsGD, and BAE SystemsBAESY. These firms build or service much of the Navy’s fleet and stand to benefit from higher spending. But shipbuilding success depends on stable policy and long-term planning, and history shows that industrial booms in East Asia only worked with sustained government support, export focus, and consistent strategy — something Washington has struggled to maintain. America doesn’t lack shipbuilding ambition — it lacks shipbuilding patience.