Trump signs executive order aimed at providing boon to American shipbuilders

Part of the aft of the future USS Enterprise (CVN-80) being constructed inside the dry dock at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding. (Justin Katz/Breaking Defense)

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump today signed an executive order tasking the heads of the defense, commerce, labor, transportation and homeland security departments with developing a “Maritime Action Plan” (MAP) that will invest in the shipbuilding industrial base and disentangle the government’s clumsy procurement processes.

“Up until now, government procurement processes and over-regulation have hindered private industry’s ability to build vessels on time and on-budget — this order reverses that trend,” according to a fact sheet from the White House. “It instructs the Secretary of Defense to assess options, including the Defense Production Act Title III authorities, to invest in and expand the Maritime Industrial Base.”

The executive order mandates that the MAP include a strategy to ensure “security and leadership of arctic waterways to address the growing presence of foreign nations in the region and the need for the United States to reestablish itself in the area.”

Within 45 days, the cabinet secretaries are also tasked with conducting a “review of shipbuilding for United States Government uses” and submit recommendations “to increase the number of participants and competitors within United States shipbuilding, and to reduce cost overruns and production delays for surface, subsurface, and unmanned programs.”

The report will include “separate itemized and prioritized lists of recommendations” for the Army, Navy and Coast Guard, according to the executive order.

The Department of Government Efficiency is also directed to begin its own review of the vessel procurement process for both the Defense and Homeland Security Departments, according to the EO.

Turning to China, the EO orders the US Trade Representative to make recommendations regarding China’s “anticompetitive actions within the shipbuilding industry.”

“The U.S. government will work with our allies and partners to align trade policies to disrupt China’s non-market practices in the international supply chain and logistics sectors,” according to the fact sheet. “The order establishes a Maritime Security Trust Fund to provide consistent funding for maritime programs in addition to a shipbuilding financial incentives program to boost private investment in U.S. shipbuilding.”

The executive orders comes weeks after Trump announced the establishment of a new White House Office of Shipbuilding during an address to Congress in early March. It also follows the swearing-in of John Phelan, Trump’s new Navy secretary, who began his tenure as the service’s top civilian in March.

RELATED: In First Industry Address, Navy Secretary Phelan Says Service Must Change The Way It Buys

Following the executive order’s signing, a bipartisan group of senators and congressmen backing legislation with similar goals issued a statement, saying the White House sees the threat of China’s shipbuilding growth and “the urgent need to reverse course to strengthen our national security and grow our economy.”

“We will reintroduce the SHIPS for America Act with renewed support in the coming weeks to provide the Congressional authorizations needed to truly revitalize the American shipbuilding and maritime industries, and work with the administration to get it passed. That’s how we’ll put Americans to work building more oceangoing ships and flying the American flag on merchant vessels to reclaim America’s global maritime leadership,” according to a statement from Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., Rep. Trent Kelly, R-Miss., and Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif.

In a statement following the executive order’s announcement, HII President and CEO Chris Kastner said, “I applaud President Trump for taking a comprehensive approach to revitalize the shipbuilding industrial base. This order is a bold step in the right direction, to expand capacity in shipbuilding and workforce development ultimately in order to meet the urgent, increased demand for ships for the Navy and the nation.”

Matthew Paxton, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America, a trade association representing the US shipbuilding, maintenance and repair industry, said the EO will “provide a powerful environment to rebuild our shipbuilding capacity and build the fleet of the future.”

“A strong US shipyard industry is essential not only for our economic security but also for our homeland and national security,” Paxton said.

Florida-based Eastern Shipbuilding Group said in part in a statement, “We thank President Trump and the White House for taking historic steps to revitalize American shipbuilding.”