The heads of four major labor unions, including the parent union of the local that represents many Bath Iron Works employees, are calling on President Donald Trump to boost American shipbuilding and enforce tariffs and other “strong penalties” against China for its increasing dominance in that sphere. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

WASHINGTON — The heads of four major labor unions, including the parent union of the local that represents many Bath Iron Works employees, called on President Donald Trump on Wednesday to boost American shipbuilding and enforce tariffs and other “strong penalties” against China for its increasing dominance in that sphere.

Brian Bryant, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers — the parent union of Machinists Union Local S6, which represents about two-thirds of BIW’s roughly 6,500 workers — joined the presidents of the United Steelworkers, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and International Brotherhood of Boilermakers to argue that China’s efforts have hurt American workers and national security.

In the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press, they urged Trump to “impose tough penalties against vessels built according to the plans, policies, and actions of the Chinese Communist Party and to adopt complementary policies that rebuild America’s shipbuilding capacity and workforce.”

Last year under President Joe Biden, the unions filed a petition seeking to address China’s shipbuilding under Section 301 of the 1974 U.S. Trade Act, hoping to start a process by which tariffs and other measures could be enacted.

The letter notes China manufactured more than 1,000 oceangoing vessels in 2023, while the United States made fewer than 10. It adds that the Chinese shipbuilding industry received more than $100 billion in government support from 2010 to 2018, such that Chinese shipyards accounted for the majority of worldwide orders last year.

“As a shipyard worker myself, out of Bath Iron Works in Maine, I have seen firsthand the crippling impacts of China’s predatory actions on our domestic shipbuilding industry,” Bryant said in a separate statement. “For decades, we’ve seen everything from layoffs to shipyard closures to atrophy of our domestic shipbuilding industrial base.

Bryant, a former veteran pipefitter at BIW, rose through the ranks of Machinists Union Local S6 over the years and became president of the international union in January 2024.

Trump has made control of the Panama Canal and resetting the global terms of trade with tariffs a key priority. But many of his concerns have been directed at U.S. allies such as Canada, Mexico and the European Union, while he has imposed an additional 10% tariff on imports from China due to its role in making the opioid fentanyl.

The White House has said it is considering all available options to push back against China’s practices in the maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors.

In January, Trump floated the possibility of more shipbuilding in an interview with conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt.

“We don’t build ships anymore,” Trump said. “We want to get that started. And maybe we’ll use allies, also, in terms of building ships. We might have to.”

In a Fox News Channel interview that aired Tuesday night, Trump again noted the decline in American shipbuilding and indicated he wanted that to change.

“We don’t build the way we used to build. Yeah, we used to build like a ship a day, and now to build a ship is, like, a big deal,” he said. “And we’re going to get this country back on track.”