Posted on April 16, 2025
On April 9, 2025, U.S. President Donald J. Trump issued a sweeping executive order (EO) to revitalize U.S. maritime power. The purpose of the EO is to set forth a policy to revitalize and rebuild domestic maritime industries and workforce to promote national security and economic prosperity. Many provisions in the EO set 30-day to 210-day time lines for various cabinet secretaries and agency heads to develop the building blocks to implement President Trump’s Maritime Action Plan (MAP). Mike Waltz, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA), will lead and coordinate all efforts in meeting the time lines and development of MAP.
The Dredging Contractors of America fully supports President Trump’s Maritime Action Plan and is working with federal agencies to help implement his U.S. maritime strategy. The shipbuilding, mariner training and ownership interests foster and present strong support for the Jones Act. It includes a catch-all for tax cheats who try to short-change the HMTF, which helps fund the dredging of America’s waterways. I will outline some of the key provisions in the Presidential EO.
The EO calls for the establishment of a Maritime Security Trust Fund. The Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, will develop a legislative proposal to establish a trust fund that will serve as a reliable funding source to deliver consistent support for MAP programs. The proposal will take into consideration new or existing tariff revenue, fines, fees, or tax revenue to provide a dedicated funding source for maritime programs.
We need speed in the government’s processing of loan guarantees. Currently, loan guarantee applications take way too long to process. Thus, the Secretary of Transportation will submit a legislative proposal to establish financial incentive programs to incentivize private investment in the construction of commercial components, parts, and vessels. This proposal will include grant programs for capital improvements to commercial vessel shipyards and commercial vessel repair facilities and drydocks. It will also allow for Federal Credit Reform Act-compliant loans and loan guarantees for shipyards. Importantly, this program may augment or replace existing programs with similar purposes including the Small Shipyard Grant Program and the Federal Ship Financing (Title XI) Program.
The Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, will deliver a plan that establishes Maritime Prosperity Zones. The plan will identify opportunities to incentivize and facilitate domestic and allied investment in United States maritime industries and waterfront communities through the establishment of maritime prosperity zones. This idea is greatly welcomed. Maritime waterfront property is increasingly being redeveloped for residential use all over the United States. We need this property to remain industrial so that America can build and repair shipyards. Importantly, it invites U.S. allies to partake in the prosperity zones like what South Korea’s Hanwa is doing in Philly Shipyard.
The maritime prosperity and opportunity zones will be modeled in compliance with President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. This proposal will also provide for zones that are outside of traditional coastal shipbuilding and ship repair centers. These zones will be geographically diverse, including river regions such as the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and on the Great Lakes.
On the training, front the EO recognizes the mariner shortage that currently exists in the United States. It’s about time that America invests in its Merchant Marine. It expands Mariner training and education through an investment in the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and the six state maritime academies including my alma mater the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
The expansion of maritime training and credentialing is highly positioned in the EO. The MAP will analyze the impact of establishing new and expanding existing merchant marine academies as a means of educating, training, and certifying the additional credentialed merchant mariners.
Getting rid of overburdensome regulations imposed on U.S. merchant mariners is overdue and this EO aims to rectify the barriers to entry into the U.S. Merchant Marine. The MAP will identify any requirements for credentialing mariners that are unnecessary, insufficient, or unduly burdensome and provide recommendations for reform. It will inventory existing educational and technical training grants and scholarships to colleges and vocational-technical training institutions for critical shipbuilding specialties and other maritime studies, and provide recommendations for enhancement.
This EO will make it easier for workers to seek good-paying and family-sustaining careers at sea. Importantly, the MAP will assess the United States Coast Guard credentialing program applicability to United States Navy Active Duty and Reserve sailors to increase opportunities for sailors to transfer into the Merchant Marine with validated skills.
The EO also targets ocean carriers and shippers who purposely divert cargo to Canada and Mexico in order to avoid paying the harbor maintenance trust fees. The Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund is used to help pay for dredging projects in the United States. The U.S. collects 0.125% of the value of the cargo. Basically, if the value of the cargo is $100,000 the harbor maintenance fee is levied at $125.00. For aggravation purposes, there will be a 10% charge on top of the harbor maintenance fees (HMF).
The MAP will require all foreign-origin cargo arriving by vessel to clear the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) entry process at a United States port of entry for security and collection of all applicable duties, customs, taxes, fees, interest, and other charges. It will ensure any foreign-origin cargo first arriving by vessel to North America clearing the CBP process at an inland location from the country of land transit (Canada or Mexico) is assessed applicable customs, duties, taxes, fees (including the HMF), interest, and other charges plus a 10% service fee for additional costs to the CBP.
See the full Trump Executive Order Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance and the Fact Sheet: Revitalizing U.S. Maritime Power.
We expect continued follow-up from the White House as the MAP is being developed. This may include additional Presidential Executive Orders addressing foreign made ship to shore cranes and taxes that maybe levied on China built ships that call on U.S. ports.
