A coalition of four U.S. senators from both parties has asked President Donald Trump to uphold the administration's trade measures aimed at reviving the domestic shipbuilding industry and to avoid offering concessions when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in mid-May.
Democratic Senators Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Mark Kelly of Arizona, together with Republican Senators Tim Scott of South Carolina and Todd Young of Indiana, delivered the appeal in a letter sent on Monday. The lawmakers argued that China has spent decades pursuing policies that have "decimated American shipbuilding," and that Washington must deploy its trade tools to the fullest extent to counter that trend.
The senators pointed to a temporary agreement reached between President Trump and President Xi last October in South Korea, when the two leaders agreed to pause reciprocal port fees on each other's vessels for one year. That pause effectively delayed about $3.2 billion per year in fees for large Chinese-built vessels calling at U.S. ports. Under the arrangement, U.S. fees are scheduled to resume on November 10 unless another extension is negotiated.
Officials first announced the U.S. port fees in April 2025 after a domestic investigation concluded that China’s dominance of the maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors was driven by unfair practices. The lawmakers told the president that the fees were a necessary step to loosen China’s grip on the global maritime industry.
The summit in China between the two presidents, set for May 14-15, will be held against the backdrop of heightened tensions over the Iran war, which has added strain to U.S.-Chinese relations. The senators noted that China continues to be the largest buyer of Iranian oil despite pressure from the U.S. administration.
In their letter the senators wrote: "The United States is at an inflection point and cannot cede additional ground to the People’s Republic of China." They urged the president to "stand strong during these negotiations as we work together to enact trade remedies and advance the SHIPS for America Act to level the playing field."
No comment from the White House was immediately available.
The SHIPS for America Act, introduced in both chambers of Congress last year, would offer a package of supports for the domestic shipbuilding sector. Provisions cited by the senators include tax credits for investments in U.S. shipyards and production facilities, and authorization of $2.5 billion in funding over ten years for domestic shipbuilding projects, among other measures.
China's share of the global shipbuilding market has surged in recent decades, rising to more than 50% of an industry valued at about $150 billion in 2023, up from roughly 5% in 2000. That expansion has been attributed by U.S. investigators to government subsidies. By contrast, U.S. shipbuilders have seen their market share fall below 1%. South Korea and Japan remain the next largest shipbuilding nations.
The senators also highlighted market effects tied to the threat of U.S. fees. They said the prospect of the fees triggered an immediate decline of roughly 25% in orders at Chinese shipyards last spring, although orders later recovered after the fees were postponed.
"The sudden decrease in Chinese shipping orders shows that when your Administration acts on this issue, the global maritime industry pays attention," the senators wrote, describing the port fees as "an urgent, critical step needed to grow the U.S. industrial base, expand the economy and protect national security."
The senators' request frames the trade measures and proposed legislation as instruments to rebuild U.S. industrial capacity, strengthen national security and counteract what they describe as decades of Chinese state-backed expansion in shipbuilding. The upcoming summit between Presidents Trump and Xi, the lawmakers warn, presents a moment when U.S. trade posture and domestic support for shipyards could be negotiated on the international stage.