How China Took Over the World’s Shipbuilding Industry — And Why the U.S. Wants It Back

Your bike. Your couch. Your kids’ toys. Even your car — most likely, they all crossed an ocean on a ship. And chances are, that ship was made in China.

China is by far the world’s largest shipbuilding nation. They have it all: the steel, the aluminum, the parts, the components, the final assembly. China owns the infrastructure. Roughly 34% of all ships currently on water were made in China, and 57.1% of ships under construction today are at Chinese shipyards.

In 1999, China produced less than 5% of the world’s ships. By 2023, that number exceeded 50%.

It doesn’t stop at shipbuilding. China controls 95% of global shipping container production. And a single Chinese shipyard now builds more ships annually than all American shipyards combined. Think about that — and this used to be an industry dominated by the United States.

Trump’s Tariffs and the Shipbuilding Comeback Plan

Having launched a trade war with China, Donald Trump has now turned his attention to shipbuilding.

“We are going to resurrect the American shipbuilding industry,” he declared, “including commercial and military shipbuilding.”