A $16 billion merger of two state-controlled shipbuilders in China was set for completion the week of August 11, 2025 creating the world’s biggest shipbuilder while the U.S. searches for a path back into the business.  American shipbuilders are playing catch-up after decades of maritime-industry decline…but Trump’s threat to impose higher fees on ships made in China is giving South Korean and Japanese rivals an opening to win back market share.

The Chinese champion is called China State Shipbuilding, or CSSC. In August 2025, it is scheduled to absorb its merger partner, China Shipbuilding Industry, and take the sole listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange… Beijing is currently looking to consolidate state-led companies in sensitive industries, particularly those connected with the military. CSSC’s main business is commercial, but it is also an important contractor for the Chinese navy. China Shipbuilding Industry designed and built China’s first homegrown aircraft carrier, the Shandong.

Beijing set its sights on dominating the shipbuilding industry decades ago, and now Chinese shipbuilders make up more than half of the global market. China-built ships accounted for about 55% of global tonnage in 2024, compared with less than 0.05% for the U.S. China possesses 232 times the shipbuilding capacity of the U.S., according to the U.S. Navy…

Meanwhile, smaller rivals in Japan are looking to reclaim market share after decades of being pushed into a corner by lower-cost Chinese and South Korean rivals. A proposal in June in 2025 from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party calls for extensive subsidies for local shipyards to protect national security, including a $6.7 billion public-private fund. “If we fail to act now, Japan risks losing its shipbuilding industry entirely, as Europe and the United States did,” the party said.

Excerpt from China Creates World’s No. 1 Shipbuilder, Driven by Rivalry With U.S., WSJ, Aug. 11, 2025