Unions push US lawmakers to pass SHIPS Act to secure shipbuilding funding

Five U.S. unions are calling on lawmakers to pass legislation that would help secure long-term funding to revive domestic shipbuilding, an effort championed by President Donald Trump and boosted by new port fees on Chinese ships.

The United States on October 14 is slated to begin collecting fees on China-linked vessels that visit the nation's seaports. While final rules from the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) are pending, HSBC analysts recently said China's COSCO Shipping is most exposed with potential port fees of $1.5 billion owed next year.

The bipartisan Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security (SHIPS) for America Act introduced in April would establish the Maritime Security Trust to reinvest the port fee proceeds into maritime security and infrastructure projects such as shipyard revitalization.

"We urge you to support the SHIPS for America Act and to schedule action," the United Steelworkers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and three other unions said in a letter to lawmakers on Tuesday.

U.S. Senators Todd Young, a Republican from Indiana, and Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona, are among the sponsors of the SHIPS Act. It has strong bipartisan support - a rarity in Washington - but lawmakers have not yet taken major action on the bill.

The U.S. already has airport and highway trust funds that provide reliable, steady sources of funding for infrastructure projects and maintenance, said Michael Wessel, president of the Wessel Group consulting firm.

"Shipbuilders need the confidence that the capital is going to be there," said Wessel, who helped coordinate a union-requested USTR investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 into China's maritime activities.

That probe found China uses unfair policies and practices to dominate the maritime sector and cleared the way for the port fees poised to begin next month.

The same union leaders who pushed for the USTR investigation called for lawmaker action on the SHIPS Act on Tuesday, Wessel said.