America must rebuild shipping with allies and stop relying on China

America must rebuild its shipbuilding with allies and end its dependence on China, and Family Brief backs that case. Heritage put it plainly on October 28, 2026: “It is time to make the American revolution in shipping a global project and course-correct our over-reliance on China's shipbuilding and shipping.”¹ Rep. Young Kim's July 22 hearing release says the imbalance costs American workers economic opportunity and leaves the country increasingly dependent on China for ships and supply chains².

“It is time to make the American revolution in shipping a global project and course-correct our over-reliance on China's shipbuilding and shipping.”

America ranks 14th with few flagged ships

The numbers show how far the country has fallen. Brent D. Sadler, a Heritage Foundation senior research fellow specializing in naval warfare and advanced technology, reports that America ranks 14th in shipbuilding by tonnage and operates 190 U.S.-flagged ships, less than 0.3 percent of the shipping engaged in U.S. trade. American ships can move only 267,799 containers in total, while more than two million containers move nationally each month. Sadler says closing that dependency would take a fleet of 1,315 ships of various classes³.

Allied investment can expand American shipbuilding

Sadler reports that Canadian shipbuilder Davie invested $1 billion in Galveston, Texas, to build icebreakers. South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha committed $5 billion in Philadelphia, where it is under contract to build maritime training vessels and recently missile tracking vessels for the Navy³. Kim proposed tax incentives for firms such as HD Hyundai, Hanwha Ocean and Imabari to buy, renovate and operate U.S. shipyards, giving allied investment a direct route into American shipbuilding. At the same hearing, J. Kim said the build-out should happen from start to finish at a domestic yard, by American workers⁴.

Sadler proposes an allied maritime coalition

Sadler's answer is an allied body he calls the M9, which he says is modeled on the G7 and can enable collective action in multinational maritime regulatory bodies, focus investments and defend against Chinese predation. Sadler notes that the idea is already memorialized in the FLEETS Now Act, sponsored by Rep. Young Kim³. Kim’s call for an allied build-out was blunt: “We must forge an aggressive shipbuilding alliance with South Korea and Japan.”⁴ A coalition that coordinates investment matters only if the work lands in American yards.

Congress should turn the proposal into policy

Congress already has the vehicles, and Family Brief says it should use them. The FLEETS Now Act's own description calls for rebuilding America’s shipbuilding base and workforce by expanding domestic capacity, attracting allied investment, and facilitating educational exchange and ship construction collaboration⁵. A provision from the SHIPS Act was added to the House version of the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act. That provision would bar funds from being used for a contract to procure a battle force ship built in a foreign yard⁴. Congress should pass the FLEETS Now Act, hold the defense bill to that foreign-yard bar, and make allied shipbuilding the center of the national effort. American families need the paychecks and national security that come with ships built at home.

Sources

1. @Heritage on X, 2026-10-28: It is time to make the American revolution in shipping a global project and course-correct our over-reliance on China's shipbuilding and shipping. Read more: https://www.19fortyfive.com/2026/10/china-dominates-global-shipbuilding-and-the-united-states-ranks-14th, 2026-10-28
2. Rep. Young Kim Holds Subcommittee Hearing on Countering China’s Global Shipbuilding Dominance
3. China Dominates Global Shipbuilding and the United States Ranks 14th by Tonnage. The Case for an Allied Counterweight. - 19FortyFive
4. House Foreign Affairs Committee Ropes In Japan, South Korea as Solution to U.S. Shipbuilding Woes
5. Rep. Young Kim Leads FLEETS Now Act to Counter China’s Grip on Global Shipbuilding and Restore U.S. Maritime Dominance