Sponsors (140)
Official title: To support the national defense and economic security of the United States by supporting vessels, ports, and shipyards of the United States and the U.S. maritime workforce.
Introduced May 1, 2025 by Trent Kelly · Last progress May 1, 2025
The bill aims to rebuild U.S. maritime industrial capacity, workforce, and national maritime resilience through targeted funding, preferences, and incentives — trading higher federal spending, greater regulatory burdens, and increased costs and trade frictions for stronger domestic shipbuilding, mariner careers, and strategic sealift capability.
Shipbuilders, maritime manufacturers, and U.S. mariners will see substantially increased, sustained demand and jobs because the bill prioritizes U.S.-built and U.S.-crewed vessels, supports repairs, and channels procurement and financing toward domestic production.
U.S. military, defense logistics planners, and taxpayers gain stronger national resilience because a larger U.S.-flag commercial fleet and expanded U.S. mariner corps improve surge sealift, tanker and submarine-cable repair readiness, and overall maritime security.
Students, credentialed mariners, and employers benefit from expanded maritime education, training, recruitment and retention programs (including PSLF eligibility, VA assistance for some mariners, academy modernization, and career-retention protections), improving career pathways and licensed mariner supply.
Taxpayers face substantially higher federal spending and potential deficit impacts because the bill authorizes large appropriations, tax credits, and diverts customs/penalty receipts into a dedicated Trust Fund, reducing general Treasury receipts.
Importers, shippers, small businesses and consumers may pay higher shipping, import, and consumer prices because cargo preference, U.S.-flag mandates, per-ton taxes/penalties, domestic-content rules, and fare enforcement can raise freight and passenger costs.
U.S. trade partners, affected firms, and exporters could face heightened trade friction and retaliatory measures because designation authorities, penalties for use of foreign shipyards, export conditioning, and restrictions on foreign participation risk diplomatic and commercial pushback.
Based on analysis of 26 sections of legislative text.
Rebuilds U.S. maritime industrial base using a White House maritime office, trust fund and loans, export-vessel domestic-content rules, a vessel investment tax credit, fleet authorities, and workforce benefits.
Creates a whole-of-government program to rebuild and secure the U.S. maritime industrial base, commercial fleet, and merchant mariner workforce. It establishes a White House Maritime Security Advisor and Board, new strategic fleet authorities, domestic-content rules for certain crude-by-ship exports, shipbuilding and financing incentives, a Maritime Security Trust Fund, a vessel investment tax credit, expanded workforce and education benefits (including loan forgiveness and VA eligibility for long-serving mariners), and a modernization plan for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.