Five Unions Call on Trump to Proceed with Chinese Shipbuilding Sanctions

The collation of four of America’s most powerful unions issued a letter calling on Donald Trump to finish the process started under the Biden Administration to sanction China for its efforts to dominate shipbuilding, the maritime and logistics sectors. Trump has stated his concern for the shipbuilding industry while in Congress efforts continue on the proposed SHIPS for America Act, which the sponsors say is the first unified effort to rebuild the U.S. merchant marine and shipbuilding.

The presidents of the United Steelworkers International, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, jointly signed the letter dated February 19. In it, they are, “urging your administration to enforce strong penalties against China for its unfair trade practices, particularly in shipbuilding, maritime, and logistics sectors.”

The five unions filed a formal complaint in March 2024 under the U.S. Trade Act and were successful in getting the Trade Representative’s Office to launch a formal investigation. The Biden Administration came out in favor of the action and carried it through to a formal report and recommendations issued in its closing days.

The letter cites the report and its finding that the “Chinese Community Party advanced a systematic array of unfair trade practices and economic policies designed to dominate and control the maritime, shipbuilding, and logistics sectors.” They highlight the findings that China distributed over $100 billion in unfair support for its shipbuilding industry. They point out that China received 71 percent of the shipbuilding orders in 2024 producing over 1,000 ships last year. They report the U.S. produced fewer than 10 ocean-going commercial ships in 2024 and has fewer than 80 in service. China by comparison they report has more than 5,500 flagged ocean-going merchant vessels.

“We urge you to take responsible action to impose tough penalties against vessels built according to the plans, policies, and actions of the Chinese Communist Party and to adopt complementary policies that rebuild America’s shipbuilding capacity and workforce,” the unions write in their letter to the president. They pointed out last year when they launched this initiative, they called for actions to deter the purchase of Chinese-built ships from entering U.S. ports.

The U.S. Trade Representative made recommendations calling for action. The Biden Administration agreed that responsive action was necessary but left it to the new administration to formulate the steps as part of its broader tariff program against China.

Trump has recently made comments in interviews about the lack of U.S. shipbuilding capabilities. He has said the U.S. might call on Allies such as South Korea to bolster its shipbuilding programs.

China has repeatedly criticized the investigation calling it short-sighted, lacking facts, and shifting blame for the decline of the U.S. shipbuilding industry. They point to the U.S.’s decline in shipbuilding since the 1940s and 1950s and the lack of investment to modernize and employ new technologies. The investigation they said was part of the China fear program led by the U.S.

The call to involve President Trump comes as Senator Mark Kelly and Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon visited the Philly Shipyard recently acquired by South Korea’s Hanwha Group. While touring the facilities and the training ship State of Maine which is outfitting at the yard, Kelly highlighted the importance of strengthening the U.S. maritime industry through the bipartisan SHIPS for America Act. He said it aims to rebuild the U.S. shipyard base and expand efforts to recruit, train, and retain skilled mariners and shipyard workers.