NAWE issues statement on Maritime executive order

In response to the Trump Administration’s “Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance” Executive Order, the National Association of Waterfront Employers issued the following statement:

“The Executive Order marks a significant step toward restoring America’s maritime strength. We commend the Administration’s recognition of the vital role marine terminal operators and the maritime industry plays in our national security and economic prosperity. While we have concerns about the impacts of penalties on maritime trade, and we urge the Administration to consider transition assistance to help rebuild our maritime industrial base, we will continue engaging in critical policy discussions that ensure America’s maritime strength is revitalized,” said NAWE President Carl Bentzel.

To read the Administration’s fact sheet on the EO, please click here.

Key points from the EO are listed below.

• Enforcing Collection of the Harbor Maintenance Fee and Other Charges: The EO directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to enforce collection of the Harbor Maintenance Fee and other charges on foreign cargo entering the United States to prevent circumvention via Canada or Mexico.
• USTR Investigation: The EO directs the USTR to make recommendations regarding China’s anticompetitive actions within the shipbuilding industry. This order follows USTR’s report of its Section 301 investigation and proposed action of assessing port fees against Chinese built and Chinese owned vessels, to which NAWE provided written comments and in-person testimony. Section 5(b) of the Executive Order specifically requires that in addition to USTR’s determinations arising out of its Section 301 investigation, USTR is also directed to consider “(i) proposing tariffs on ship-to-shore cranes manufactured, assembled, or made using components of PRC origin, or manufactured anywhere in the world by a company owned, controlled, or substantially influenced by a PRC national, and (ii) tariffs on other cargo handling equipment.”
• Maritime Action Plan: On or before November 5, 2025, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, in coordination with the USTR and the Secretaries of State, Defense, Commerce, Labor, Transportation, and Homeland Security are to create a Maritime Action Plan (MAP) to revitalize the U.S. maritime industries. This MAP will include specific actions to restore and create sustained resiliency for the American maritime industry.
• Resilience of the Maritime Industrial Base: By September 16, 2025, the Secretary of Defense must review the available options for investing in and expanding the Maritime Industrial Base, including potentially using the Defense Production Act Title III authorities. Section 4 of the Executive Order states that the Secretary of Defense should further explore the “use of private capital to the maximum extent possible to invest in and expand the Maritime Industrial Base including, but not limited to, investment and expansion of commercial and defense shipbuilding capabilities, component supply chains, ship repair and marine transportation capabilities, port infrastructure, and the adjacent workforce.“
• Maritime Prosperity Zones: By July 8, 2025, the Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Secretary of Homeland Security must develop a plan to incentivize and facilitate domestic and allied investment in maritime industries and waterfront communities (i.e. Maritime Prosperity Zones). This plan must: (i) include stipulations for appropriate regulatory relief in the establishment of such zones, and (ii) provide for zones that are outside of the traditional coastal shipbuilding and ship repair centers (i.e., are geographically diverse locations such as river regions and the Great Lakes).
• Maritime Security Trust Fund and Shipbuilding Financial Incentives: The Executive Order requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to create a Maritime Security Trust Fund for the consistent funding of maritime programs. The Executive Order also requires the creation of a shipbuilding financial incentives program to boost private investment in U.S. Shipbuilding. The Director of OMB’s proposal for the Maritime Security Trust Fund shall consider how any new or existing tariff revenue, fines, fees, or tax revenue could further the goal of establishing a more reliable, dedicated funding source for program support by the MAP.
• Report on Maritime Industry Needs: By July 8, 2025, the Secretary of Transportation shall deliver a report to the OMB Director inventorying Federal programs that could be used to sustain and grow the supply and demand for the United States maritime industry. This inventory report must include a wide range of programs enumerated in the Executive Order, including the Maritime Environmental and Technical Assistance Program, Title XI, Assistance to Small Shipyards and the Port Infrastructure Development Program.
• Mariner Education and Training: The Executive Order also includes various provisions expanding the focus of mariner education and modernizing the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
• U.S. Shipbuilding and Increasing the U.S. Flag Fleet: The Executive Order also includes various provisions targeted at increasing the U.S. fleet of commercial vessels, increasing competition in the U.S. shipbuilding industry, streamlining the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security vessel procurement processes, and reviewing the funding, retention, support, and mobilization of a “robust inactive reserve fleet.”
• Deregulatory Initiatives: By May 9, 2025, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Secretary of Homeland Security must conduct a review of their regulations pertaining to the domestic commercial maritime fleet and maritime port access to determine where agencies may be able to deregulate within the framework of Executive Order 14192 (Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation).