When President Trump signed an executive order calling for the restoration of America's maritime dominance, it set off a chain of events that should have caused investors to pay attention. The executive order has many layers, but the highlight is titled America’s Maritime Action Plan (MAP), a sweeping blueprint to rebuild domestic shipbuilding through hundreds of billions in federal financing.
Before this gets dismissed as frivolous spending, there are some hard truths to consider. First, less than 1% of new commercial ships are currently built in the United States. Second, China has aggressively dominated global shipbuilding for years. The MAP is Washington's answer to that imbalance.
