The looming threat of Chinese naval superiority over American ships is causing concern on Capitol Hill, according to proposed legislation.
Representatives Mark Green (R–Tenn.), Jen Kiggans (R–Va.), and Don Davis (D–N.C.), all of whom served in the military and are now serving in the House of Representatives, are introducing a measure to help the struggling U.S. commercial ship industry.
You are not in a practice run. Green warned AWN Digital that Communist China posed a danger to America’s naval superiority, a cornerstone of national defense.
According to Green, the United States Navy now has 280 ships, while China’s Navy has 350, making it the biggest in the world.
“China has used its fleet to erode freedom of navigation, harass civilian ships, and intimidate our allies,” according to him. “To maintain our strategic edge, we must invest ‘full speed ahead’ in our maritime industrial base – encompassing commercial shipbuilders, military shipyards, and every link in the supply chain.”
The bill would create a commission to investigate the state of the commercial and military marine industries in the United States and would require it to do so.
Reviving shipyards in the United States would be the ultimate aim of the proposed policies and laws.
of an interview with AWN Digital, Kiggans characterized shipbuilding as the “backbone” of the economy of her coastal Virginia district.
There are increasing worldwide dangers, but our marine industrial base is unable to keep up because of problems with the personnel and the supply chain. She went on to say that this Commission is an important step in figuring out what our shipyards are up against and how to fix them so we can keep building world-class fleets.
With respect to the need to fortify our marine industrial base, Davis emphasized the need of public-private partnerships. The safety of our nation depends on shipbuilding.
Despite the present hyper-partisan climate, U.S. competitiveness with China continues to be one of the most bipartisan subjects in Congress.
In terms of shipbuilding, China controls about 47% of the world market, as reported by the US Naval Institute.
Approximately 29% of the market is accounted for by South Korea, while 17% is attributed to Japan. In terms of market share, the United States accounts for 0.13 percent.
The U.S. has not produced as much shipbuilding as one Chinese shipyard did in 2024 in terms of tonnage since WWII, according to a research by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The analysis deemed China’s dominance in the industry as a threat to national security.
