A file with the code name \u201cSHIPS for America Act\u201d will be found in the Oval Office of the White House in a few days by the newly elected US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new US president, who is sworn in on January 20, will be asked, as part of the geopolitical agenda he wants to implement, to examine the restoration of the dynamics of US maritime power and what it can offer to his aspirations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is essentially a proposal-response to China\u2019s continuous strengthening of control of the seas, with commercial ships, but also of strategic passages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill, which has the support of all US shipping bodies, begins with the characteristic phrase: \u201cCurrently, the number of ships under the US flag that are active in international trade is 80. China has 5,500.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have always been a shipping nation, but the truth is that we have lost ground to China, which now dominates international shipping and can build commercial and military ships much faster than we can,\u201d said Senator Kelly, a U.S. Navy veteran and the first graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy to serve in Congress. \u201cThe SHIPS for America Act is the answer to that challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By supporting shipbuilding, shipping, and workforce development, it will strengthen supply chains, reduce our reliance on foreign ships, put Americans to work in well-paying jobs, and support the shipbuilding needs of the Navy and Coast Guard,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill is also cosponsored by the American P&I Club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What it provides<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The main components of the bill provide for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1.<\/strong> Coordination of U.S. maritime policy by establishing the position of Maritime Security Advisor in the White House, who would lead an interagency Maritime Security Council charged with making strategic decisions on how to implement a National Maritime Strategy. The bill also establishes a maritime security trust fund, which would reinvest duties and fees paid by the shipping industry into maritime security programs and infrastructure that supports maritime commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. <\/strong>Establish a national goal to expand the U.S.-flagged international fleet by 250 ships over 10 years through the creation of the Strategic Merchant Fleet Program, which will facilitate the development of a fleet of U.S.-flagged, U.S.-manned, and domestically built merchant ships that can compete in international trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3.<\/strong> Enhance the competitiveness of U.S.-flagged ships in international trade by establishing a committee to establish rules and standards for merchant shipping regulations. The goal is to reduce the red tape that limits the international competitiveness of U.S.-flagged ships. There is also a requirement to move government-sponsored cargo on U.S.-flagged ships, while a portion of commercial goods imported from China are projected to move on U.S.-flagged ships by 2029.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4.<\/strong> Expanding the U.S. shipyard industry base, for both military and commercial ocean-going vessels, by establishing a 25% tax credit for shipyard investments, converting the federal ship financing program into a revolving fund, and creating a shipbuilding industry incentive program to support innovative approaches to domestic shipbuilding and ship repair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5.<\/strong> Accelerating U.S. leadership in next-generation ship design, manufacturing processes, and ship energy systems by creating the U.S. Center for Maritime Innovation, which will create regional hubs across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. <\/strong>Establishes a mariner recruitment campaign, as well as shipbuilders, allowing mariners to maintain their credentials through a newly created career retention program. It also provides for infrastructure investments at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academies, supporting state maritime academies and domestic mariner training and education. The bill also makes long-overdue changes to streamline and modernize the U.S. Coast Guard\u2019s credentialing system for merchant mariners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A file with the code name \u201cSHIPS for America Act\u201d will be found in the Oval Office of the White House in a few…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[390,819],"tags":[4407,2299,70],"class_list":["post-22325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-usa","tag-ships","tag-sovereignty","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22325"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22327,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22325\/revisions\/22327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.liberalglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}