Washington Monthly - Can America Build Ships Again?
Transportation analyst Arnav Rao argues that Trump’s push to revive U.S. shipbuilding has more substance than his usual policy swings, since the industry is vital to national security and enjoys rare bipartisan support. Still, Rao notes that America’s shipyards remain plagued by delays, high costs, and dependence on foreign-built vessels — meaning any true revival would require a coordinated, large-scale effort reminiscent of the Liberty ship program of World War II.
Donald Trump might change his mind from day to day about which tariffs he will apply to which imports from which countries, but, perhaps surprisingly, he has been very clear about one recent addition to his plan to restore American greatness: He wants to get us back in the shipbuilding business.
During his March address to Congress, Trump intoned in classic Trumpian fashion, “We used to make so many ships. We don’t make them anymore very much, but we’re going to make them very fast, very soon.” Soon after the speech, Trump signed an executive order tasked the government with finding ways to rebuild America’s moribund shipbuilding industry, and Trump’s U.S. Trade Representative hit Chinese-built vessels with port fees.
Unlike most of Trump’s other policy priorities, shipbuilding enjoys bipartisan support. Democrats and Republicans alike have applauded the president’s moves on the industry, and in the spring, lawmakers reintroduced major bipartisan legislation that would codify many of Trump’s shipbuilding plans.
But can America build ships again? The shipbuilding industry is critical for U.S. economic and national security; ships carry the vast majority of U.S. international trade goods and 90 percent of U.S. military supplies. In the event of a war or major conflict, relying on foreign-built ships—or foreign-controlled shipping companies—would be a risky proposition. Yet, despite that fact, the United States produces a fraction of 1 percent of the world’s ships, virtually no U.S. commerce travels on American-built ships, and U.S. shipyards are notoriously plagued with delays and cost overruns. Any revival of the American shipbuilding industry will require a large-scale, comprehensive effort from government, industry, and labor. It will require coordination, innovation, and a national sense of urgency—the kind we haven’t seen in decades.
So, in this critical moment of shipbuilding need, Doug Most’s new book, Launching Liberty, is a welcome reminder of the depth and breadth of the effort the United States undertook the last time it had a world-class shipbuilding program: the Liberty ship program during World War II. Most weaves together a wide range of voices involved in the program, from politicians and industrialists to welders and engineers.
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