Thanks to the leadership and vision of President Donald J. Trump, the United States is decisively moving towards a new Maritime Golden Age by expanding commercial shipbuilding capacity, building a resilient workforce, and strengthening alliances that advance both our nation’s economic prosperity and its national security.

For decades, the nation’s strategic position and shipbuilding industrial capacity have weakened due to a lack of strategic focus, cumbersome Government procurement processes, and a lack of strategic support for construction of commercial vessels in domestic shipyards. There has also been a degradation of Federal financial investment in the Maritime Industrial Base (MIB), which, when coupled with a dearth of private investment in the MIB and unnecessary regulatory burdens, have slowed the construction of ships and other critical infrastructure while driving up costs and disincentivizing the operation of ships under the U.S. flag.

American shipbuilding capacity has withered, while strategic competitors have expanded and solidified their market share. Less than one percent of new commercial ships are built in the United States. With only 66 total shipyards—consisting of eight active shipbuilding yards, 11 shipyards with build positions, 22 repairs yards with drydocking, and 25 topside repairs yards—the United States does not have the capacity necessary to scale up the domestic shipbuilding industry to the rate required to meet national priorities.

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Strategic competitors, meanwhile, dominate the market and build ships at a fraction of the cost of U.S. production. This status quo poses significant security and supply chain dependency issues. A self-sustaining domestic shipbuilding sector is critical for national and economic security. The United States can neither afford for its trade to and from foreign markets to be ferried almost entirely on foreign-built, -crewed, and -flagged ships, nor for the MIB to be unable to build and maintain the vessels the United States needs to defend American interests on the high seas.

The Trump Administration seeks to reconstitute those means here. On April 9, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order (E.O.) 14269, “Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance,” which calls for the development of a Maritime Action Plan (MAP). This seminal document, informed not only by domestic imperatives but also by international realities, outlines targeted steps to rejuvenate the MIB. The MAP is developed by the Secretary of State and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA) and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in coordination with the Secretary of War, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the United States Trade Representative (USTR). It charts a course to reclaim America’s maritime strength, ensuring the Nation can defend its interests and ferry its trade.

Delivering on this vision requires more than investment. The MAP calls for policies that modernize government procurement processes and streamline regulations to accelerate shipbuilding and reduce costs. By streamlining regulatory processes, strengthening interagency coordination, and providing reliable long-term funding and demand for U.S.-built ships, shipyards, and mariners, America will rebuild maritime strength at the speed and scale required to meet the challenges of today and the future.

Source: White House