Open Markets Statement: China has Monopolized Maritime Commercial Sectors; U.S. Must Act to Rebuild U.S. Domestic Maritime Capacity

“The findings of USTR’s Section 301 investigation highlight the urgent need for bold action to address the decades-long slump in U.S. maritime capacity.”

WASHINGTON– In response to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) concluding its Section 301 investigation into China’s policies and practices in the maritime industry and finding that China uses unfair policies and practices to dominate the global maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors, Open Markets Institute’s Transportation Policy Analyst Arnav Rao issued the following statement:

“The findings of USTR’s Section 301 investigation highlight the urgent need for bold action to address the decades-long slump in U.S. maritime capacity. The United States has long neglected to recognize that the lassez-faire approach to maritime policy it adopted in the 1980s has allowed China and foreign shipping cartels to monopolize the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors, seriously jeopardizing U.S. national, economic, and industrial security. The United States can ill-afford to continue this policy. The stark findings of the Section 301 investigation pave the way for strong remedies, including port fees for Chinese vessels, that will counter the effects of Chinese overcapacity.

While we applaud the Biden administration for taking this first step toward addressing the shortfall in U.S. maritime capacity, we also recognize that there is much more to be done. Rebuilding American maritime dominance will take a holistic, integrated-systems approach that includes economic regulation of the shipping industry, robust public support for U.S. shipping and shipbuilding capacity, and rapid public investment in merchant mariner training.” 

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