The White House’s immediate reaction was prompted by a report filed by five U.S. industry organizations to the Senate Commerce Committee against China’s practices in the shipping, supply chain and shipbuilding sectors.
President Joe Biden, on the occasion of this report, decided to proceed with an official investigation into China’s practices with the aim of protecting the steel industry, but also the US shipbuilding industry from its “unfair” practices, as he characterizes them.
In their report, the five American organizations argue that “China’s policies targeting the shipbuilding, shipping and supply chain sectors are discriminatory with the ultimate goal of its global dominance in the above critical sectors.”
“These policies,” they add, “could not be implemented if they did not have the direct support of the Beijing government, and their goal is to exclude from the global market of shipping activities every company, from any branch and sector of shipping, which is not Chinese.”
The White House, for its part, says, “that the Biden-Harris administration recognizes growing concerns that China’s unfair trade practices, including flooding the market with below-market steel, are distorting the global shipbuilding market and eroding competition.”
At the same time, the five American unions are asking President Biden to push forward an executive order according to which all shipping companies whose ships dock in US ports will pay increased docking fees for their ships if they are built in China.
International observers point out that if one takes into account that in the run-up to the national elections in the U.S. the White House will respond to the request of the five American industrial associations for extensive and strict controls then tremors in the global maritime trade should be expected. Given that, according to OECD data, 80% of world trade is carried by sea today, it is easy to understand that these tremors will be particularly strong.