The US government under Donald Trump has presented its “Maritime Action Plan”. The core program: financing American shipbuilding with port fees.
The Maritime Action Plan was adopted back in April 2025 and was originally due to be published last November. With a delay of three months, the government has now presented a rather short 36-page PDF that summarizes ideas that have already been discussed. The focus is on strengthening US merchant shipping, with only a few new approaches. Nothing has been decided yet, the plan is merely available.
It is intended to represent a “comprehensive, coordinated” approach and be implemented by several federal authorities with responsibilities in the maritime sector. The plan relies on cooperation with allied nations, partners from industry as well as state and local governments.
“Make American Shipbuilding Great Again”
Trump’s priority is to rebuild shipbuilding as a national industry. Other pillars of the plan include reforming worker education and training, protecting the maritime industry and strengthening national security and industrial resilience.
The authors recognize that the “revitalization” of the industry will take a long time – not to mention financial resources. There is talk of a total of 150 billion dollars, which will primarily come from foreign investors. Trump has already “secured” these funds, it is said, and the Department of Commerce is now working on implementing them. Federal programs are to be expanded and adapted to promote smaller shipyards and train skilled workers. A “bridging strategy” would also be to initially buy ships at the home shipyards of foreign shipbuilding companies and have them built there, while at the same time investing directly in a US shipyard that the company has acquired shares in or is planning a partnership with. This would be conceivable, for example, at the Philly Shipyard, which has been trading as “Hanwha Philly” since its takeover by the Korean company Hanwha.
Up to $66 billion in 10 years
The plan also explicitly elaborates on an idea that Trump launched last year but has since suspended: Shipping companies will be asked to pay. The Maritime Action Plan proposes the introduction of a “universal fee for foreign ships of all nations calling at US ports”.
If this plan is implemented, it will be expensive for shipping companies. The fee is to be based on the weight of the imported cargo, with a range of between 1 and 25 cents per kilogram planned. At $0.01, this would result in around $66 billion in revenue over 10 years, which would flow into shipbuilding. At $0.25 per kilogram, it would be as much as $1.5 trillion. “This revenue could be added to the Maritime Security Trust Fund,” the authors of the plan write. “Since foreign ships benefit from access to the US market, this measure contributes to the long-term strengthening of American naval forces.”
Last year, Trump already brought the levying of port charges into play, primarily against China. In return, China had also imposed fees on US ships. Both sides agreed in November 2025 to suspend the reciprocal measures for a year for the time being – but there is no sign of the trade dispute being resolved. (JW)
