The largest container ship ever built in the United States is the Kaimana Hila. Completed in Philadelphia in 2019, it can transport 3,220 shipping containers, each 20 feet long. The largest container ships now on the seas, however, were built by Yangzijiang Shipbuilding near Shanghai, and have a capacity of 24,346 containers. They are, quite simply, in a different league.
That comparison underscores the misguided logic behind the Trump administration’s plan to attack China’s maritime industry dominance. Starting Oct. 14, the administration aims to tax imports that arrive in Chinese-owned or Chinese-built ships, as well as any vehicles arriving in foreign-built vehicle carriers. (In some cases, the fees would be forgiven if the owner takes delivery of a similar US-built vessel within three years.) For good measure, the White House also wants to hike tariffs on imports of Chinese-made shipping containers themselves, as well as ship-to-shore cranes and the chassis on which trucks move containers to and from ports.
