Importers could face higher costs and tougher shipping restrictions under a new White House action plan designed to “strengthen U.S. maritime infrastructure, reduce reliance on unreliable suppliers, and enhance the global competitiveness of the U.S. shipbuilding sector.”
The plan asserts that a self-sustaining domestic shipbuilding sector is “critical for national and economic security” and that the U.S. cannot “afford for its trade to and from foreign markets to be ferried almost entirely on foreign-built, -crewed, and -flagged ships” or for its maritime industrial base “to be unable to build and maintain the vessels the United States needs to defend American interests on the high seas.”
In response, the 42-page plan sets forth a wide range of recommended actions, including the following that could affect international trade.
Fees
- impose a universal infrastructure or security fee on all foreign-built commercial vessels calling at U.S. ports, to be assessed on the weight of the imported tonnage arriving on the vessel (though no specific amount is recommended); fees would help fund efforts to stimulate private investment in commercial shipyards and vessel construction
- impose a land port maintenance tax equivalent to the Harbor Maintenance Tax (0.125 percent of the value of goods transported) to disincentivize the diversion of cargo from U.S. ports of entry to foreign ports and then across U.S. land borders by truck and train; tax collections would support the planning, design, construction, maintenance, and improvement of land port infrastructure
Agreements
- continue diplomatic and trade engagements with allies and trading partners under the reciprocal trade agreement framework to secure commitments related to shipping and shipbuilding
- encourage international agreements that link market access to joint industrial development to help ensure that allied investment directly contributes to reduced reliance on unreliable supply chains
Policy
- establish a Strategic Commercial Fleet consisting of internationally-trading, U.S.-built vessels that would provide the depth and redundancy required to sustain military logistics around the globe and ensure the continuous flow of goods to the U.S. economy
- as ships are being built in the U.S., require high-volume exporting economies to transport a gradually increasing percentage of their U.S.-bound containerized cargo on qualifying U.S. vessels
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