US President Trump’s “shipbuilding revival dream” may have already died in name only!
According to foreign media reports on the 16th, US President Trump proposed an ambitious shipbuilding revival plan after taking office in his second term. However, just a few months later, the plan was said to have actually stagnated. The newly established shipbuilding office under the US White House National Security Council (NSC) has actually become a decoration due to personnel transfers, and the core positions are currently vacant.
In March this year, during his joint address to Congress, Trump declared: “To strengthen America’s defense industrial base, we will revive the shipbuilding industry, including commercial and military shipbuilding,” and announced that a shipbuilding office would be established within the White House to address the long-term decline of the US shipbuilding industry.
On April 9, Trump signed an executive order announcing that he would restore the US’ maritime advantage and vowed to increase investment in the shipbuilding industry in the coming years. Some of the key points of the executive order include: investing in and expanding commercial and defense shipbuilding capabilities, ship repairs, port infrastructure, etc.; encouraging allied shipbuilding companies to invest in the US to help strengthen the US’ shipbuilding capabilities; instructing the establishment of a US shipbuilding industry financial incentive program to promote private investment in the US shipbuilding industry, etc.
Although the US has made great efforts to promote the revival of the shipbuilding industry, the reality is far from what it promised. According to Reuters and other foreign media, Trump’s newly established NSC Shipbuilding Office had a total of 7 staff members at the beginning of its establishment, but as of the beginning of this month, it has been reduced to 2 people due to department transfers and personnel loss. The remaining 2 core staff members also resigned recently, which means that the department has actually stagnated.
Ian Bennett, senior director of the NSC, was once the head of the “Ocean and Industrial Capabilities” department, fully responsible for shipbuilding policy. He was a key figure in Trump’s shipbuilding revival plan, but he has recently resigned. At the same time, Brian McCormack, director of the NSC Secretariat, has also resigned and moved to the senator’s office. This means that the NSC can no longer continue to lead the revival of US shipbuilding.
A White House official revealed to the media: “Currently, shipbuilding policy has been transferred to the State Department and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The NSC Shipbuilding Office has actually been disbanded, and its organizational structure and personnel have been abolished. Trump’s promise in his speech to Congress to ‘set up a special agency for shipbuilding issues’ has become empty talk in just four months.”
Previously, in order to promote the revival of the shipbuilding industry, the US had touted its cooperation with South Korean shipbuilders. However, in this context, doubts are growing as to whether the US-South Korea shipbuilding cooperation can make substantial progress. Although Trump has always emphasized the need to cooperate with South Korean shipyards, the internal foundation of the US government that promoted its shipbuilding alliance has actually collapsed.
In fact, former US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has been in charge of US shipbuilding and shipping policies since he became a member of the House of Representatives, and led the drafting of the SHIPS for America Act. In May this year, Mike Waltz became one of the first senior officials to be fired during Trump’s second term due to the military secrets leak (Signal Gate). At present, the progress of the SHIPS for America Act is very slow, and the current situation is worrying.
A local shipbuilding expert familiar with Washington’s political arena commented: “Although the Trump administration verbally calls for a ‘renaissance in the shipbuilding industry’, it is actually destroying the foundation for its implementation.”
The US shipbuilding industry peaked in the 1970s but has struggled due to high costs, a complex regulatory structure and the rapid expansion of the shipbuilding industry in Asian countries such as China.