TRUMP CHARTS COURSE TO REVIVE THE AMERICAN SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY WITH NEW ORDER
Two underrated parts of our national defense lie in the oceans that separate us from several enemies, frenemies, and rivals. Thankfully, not only does the United States have geographical help, but Sailors can be found throughout keeping our nation and ships safe from harm. The same can be seen throughout various waterways in the world. However, as naval warfare continues to become more important, our nation is facing a big problem.
US Navy shipbuilding efforts are dealing with multiple issues hindering production and our ability to fight. Donald Trump has been determined to fix this issue, and on April 9th, he signed an executive order aimed at revitalizing the American shipbuilding industry.
Donald Trump Signs an Executive Order Aimed at Revitalizing American Shipbuilding
The executive order that Trump signed is called, "Restoring America's Maritime Dominance." The order states that, "The commercial shipbuilding compacity and maritime workforce of the United States has been weakened by decades of Government neglect, leading to the decline of a once strong industrial base while simultaneously empowering our adversaries and eroding United Stated national security."
It goes on to explain, "Rectifying these issues requires a comprehensive approach that includes securing consistent, predictable, and durable federal funding, making United States-flagged and built vessels commercially competitive in international commerce, rebuilding America’s maritime manufacturing capabilities (the Maritime Industrial Base), and expanding and strengthening the recruitment, training, and retention of the relevant workforce."
Trump's executive order states that its goal is to revitalize and rebuild domestic maritime industries and the workforce to promote national security.
In March of 2024, Navy officials stated that the service's goal was to grow its fleet of battle force ships to 381 over the course of 30 years. This plan would require $40 billion each year, over the course of the project. Currently, there are less than 300 battle force ships in the fleet. It is projected that this number will continue to drop, which is why Trump issued the shipbuilding order.
Could US Navy Shipbuilding be Outsourced?
The woes of US Navy shipbuilding are nothing new and President Trump is looking to tackle the problem.
Outsourcing US Navy shipbuilding to allies is a direct response to China’s effective production of vessels at a time when naval warfare continues to grow in importance. As it stands, China is over 230 times greater in its shipbuilding capacity than America.
Donald Trump’s political campaign focused heavily on the idea of making the United States a manufacturing hub while imposing tariffs on imports. The contrasting views are evident but the simple point remains, the US Navy needs better production.
"We’re going to be announcing some things that are going to be very good having to do with the Navy. We need ships. We have to get ships, and you know, everybody said, ‘Oh, we’ll build them.’ We may have to go to others, (and) bid them out, and it’s okay to do that. We’ll bid them out until we get ourselves ready," said Trump.
The problems with the Navy don’t begin and end with traditional ships either, U.S. submarines are also lagging, with only 68 nuclear submarines compared to a Cold War high of 140.
Trump continues to criticize Navy leadership for costly design changes at a time when key shipbuilding programs are delayed while the industry is facing workforce shortages. As a result of these factors and more, the U.S. controls only around 0.2% of commercial shipbuilding in the global market.
US Navy Shipbuilding Is Struggling to Keep Up
Houthi rebels are shooting drones and missiles through the Red Sea. Additionally, war with China continues to creep up, and Europe continues to see conflict. All of this while US Navy shipbuilding continues to linger. There is a labor shortage but it’s much deeper than that involving not only hiring but retaining employees as well as budgeting and geopolitical aspects that have created our current problem.
Currently, the Navy is experiencing a backlog of ships made worse as leaders change designs and add costs to already expensive projects. The United States may still have the most powerful naval fleet but China officially has more ships available for fighting. Furthermore, it has been well documented that the Navy has been struggling with maintaining its current fleet and not always doing so with ideal methods.
The US Navy shipbuilders that are working on vessels continue to put forth a great effort; however, this is the worst output America has seen in 26 years. For example, contractor Marinette Marine has the opportunity to build a total of ten ships, of which it’s already working on six.
The problem? With its current workforce, Marinette Marine can only build one ship per year until things change. Some ships are three years behind schedule.
The Ongoing Welder Shortage Is Affecting National Defense
As the US Navy needs more ships, the industry responsible for making them is having labor issues. The Navy is calling for more welders as a whole. Now, US Navy shipbuilding is facing problems with production as a result of being understaffed.
One of the solutions shipyards are providing to address the welder shortage in the US is to collaborate with technical colleges by providing programs to train people to get the skills they need to join the workforce.
Specific efforts are bringing a focus on creating warships, whereas some shipyards are able to find some workers, yet they don’t have the ideal type of knowledge or experience. As pointed out by the American Welding Society (AWS), the shortage is a problem nations around the world are facing. In part, there are negative connotations associated with the industry, along with the skill gap mentioned above.
Collaborative programs between the military and technical schools are helping provide a new perspective on the promising industry while also teaching people the skills they need to become Navy shipbuilders. Furthermore, contractors are also utilizing some of the funding provided by the Navy. This is to retain necessary employees and to reach hiring goals to meet demand.
Leaders Look to Expand Supply Chain Capacity & Manufacturing
In order to expand manufacturing, it is estimated that 250,000 skilled workers must be hired over the next decade to accomplish Trump's shipbuilding goals.
Matthew Sermon, the direct reporting program manager for the Navy's maritime industrial base program explained that the Navy is looking to expand supply chain capacity in an, "all-hands-on-deck effort to attract, train, and retain American manufacturing and engineering workers."
Last month, Dr. Brett Seidle, acting assistant secretary of the Navy for research, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that, "Simply put, we need more ships delivered on time and on budget, and we are challenged in both of these arenas. Costs are rising faster than inflation and schedules on multiple programs are delayed one to three years."
In response to the April 9th mandate, Mike Waltz has been instructed to submit an action plan to Trump within 210 days.
What are the Global Ramifications?
The current state of U.S. shipbuilding has a broad impact, as it not only affects the delivery of U.S. vessels, but also influences the demand for Virginia-class submarines for the AUKUS (Australia, the United Kingdome and the U.S.) agreement.
The Navy aims to delver one Columbia-class and two Virginia-class submarined per year, and new AUKUS commitments are increasing the annual demand of boats to 2.33. These increasing demands come at a time when the Navy continues to face ongoing production issues with the future USS District of Columbia, which has been delayed by 18 months.
The Navy has also recently commissioned the Virginia-class attack submarine Iowa. Which is expected to be delivered this year.
Lastly, Beijing is continuing to eye the Arctic as a domain to further China's power. Pentagon officials received this warning in December. These concerns have continued to be amplified by the increasing military acitivity in the region.
Updated by Lauren Piette
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