U.S. President Donald Trump’s push to rebuild U.S. shipbuilding is finding rare bipartisan support from Americans, with 72% saying the U.S. cannot remain dependent on China and other foreign producers to build ships, a poll released Friday showed.
The survey of 2,204 adults, conducted by Morning Consult for the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) on March 10-12, showed strong concern about China’s grip on the $150 billion global ocean shipping industry, and the negative national security implications for the United States.
Only 11% said the U.S. could rely on China and other countries to build ships for U.S. commercial and military needs.
“This is one of those rare moments where there’s a strong bipartisan thread here of wanting to move forward,” AAM President Scott Paul said. “And there’s pretty good support on Capitol Hill for being aggressive on shipbuilding as well.”
AAM, a policy group led by the United Steelworkers union and domestic manufacturers, released the poll ahead of a hearing to be held on Monday by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on proposed remedies, including charging up to $1.5 million for Chinese-built vessels entering U.S. ports.
The Trump administration announced the proposed remedies, which also call for at…