The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has taken appropriate, justified, and measured actions to counteract the the People’s Republic of China’s deliberate and purposeful targeting of the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors for dominance.
I commend Ambassador Jamieson Greer for involving the Federal Maritime Commission throughout this process. The insight and analysis our expert staff contributed was beneficial to USTR taking action that meaningfully addresses the underlying factors that led to China’s rise in the maritime sector while minimizing negative effects on U.S. shippers, companies, and consumers.
The People’s Republic of China achieved dominance in the maritime, shipbuilding, and logistics sectors through deliberate tactics. Over a 30-year period, the Chinese government provided distorting levels of financial state support to their maritime sector, and coupled this state funding with a mix of national policies and practices that were—and remain—fundamentally non-market and anticompetitive.
Such a high level of concentration of a critical global industry in one country is worrisome under the best of circumstances, but worse still is the fact that China is leveraging its maritime dominance to advance military, commercial, and diplomatic objectives. Maritime, shipbuilding, and logistics are inherently ‘dual use’ endeavors where China is expanding its ability to build naval vessels, support forces deployed overseas, and control sealines of communication. The U.S. Trade Representative has taken an important action that helps address the conditions that have allowed China’s rise in the maritime sector to the detriment of the United States and other democratic, free market, maritime nations. I was glad to support Ambassador Greer’s efforts, and I will bring the Commission’s resources and authorities to bear in any way that contributes to further countering China’s dangerous control of so many aspects of the global supply chain, and will continue to pursue policies that are beneficial in supporting American shippers and expanding the U.S. flagged fleet.
Chairman Louis E. Sola is a Commissioner with the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission. The thoughts and comments expressed here are his own and do not necessarily represent the position of the Commission.