If the US cannot produce enough military ships, Trump considers enlisting allies for shipbuilding.

Donald Trump, as president-elect, proposed an unusual solution to the U.S.'s slow ship-building industry: outsource production if the country cannot keep up.

The incoming president proposed to radio host Hugh Hewitt that they would need ships and may have to take a different route than usual.

"We no longer construct ships on a daily basis. However, we aim to restart this practice. We may require assistance from allies in the form of shipbuilding. It is possible that we may need to do so."

He noted China’s vast outpacing of American shipbuilding capabilities.

"Every four days, China is constructing a ship, while we are observing and enduring great losses."

The domestic shipbuilding industry and labor groups will be cautious about Trump's stance, but it is worth noting that China's shipbuilding capacity is more than 232 times greater than that of the U.S., and the Navy has had difficulty building ships on time for decades.

Instead of fulfilling his campaign promise to revive manufacturing in the U.S. and impose a blanket tariff on foreign imports, he opted for a 60% tariff on all goods imported from China.

The U.S.' battle force is smaller than China's navy, with only 295 vessels, including 11 active aircraft carriers. In 2017, Congress mandated that the Navy maintain 355 ships.

Trump suggested expanding the Navy's fleet.

The Navy will be announcing good news related to ship acquisition. Although we need ships, we may have to go to other countries and bid them out. It's okay to do so, and we'll keep bidding until we're ready.

According to military experts, the U.S. falls behind in the number of nuclear submarines, with a Cold War high of 140, as stated by retired Navy captain and senior fellow at the Sagamore Institute in an op-ed for American Affairs.

The American submarine force, which serves as the "point of the spear" of American power and is crucial to many military plans, is not ready to face the current threat environment. There are no easy solutions to this issue, which has resulted from years of flawed assumptions and poor decision-making.

The latest data indicates that the U.S. submarine fleet has a total of 68 vessels, with 50 of them classified as "fast attack" hunter-killers.

The global shipbuilding market is dominated by China, which has a 46.59% market share, followed by South Korea with 29.24% and Japan with 17.25%. The U.S. has a small presence in the market with a 0.13% market share. Building a ship in the U.S. is significantly more expensive than in other countries, with costs being roughly twice as high.

The annual defense policy bill of Congress approved $33.5 billion for the construction of new ships and submarines.

A Navy report from last year stated that several significant shipbuilding projects are running behind schedule, mainly because of a shortage of workers.

Trump accused Biden-era Navy officers of "playing around and tinkering" with the Constellation-class frigate program, resulting in increased costs.

In 2020, the Pentagon struck a deal with the American arm of Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for the new class of ships, as discussed with Hewitt.

Trump stated, "The generals, including the Biden admirals and all those involved, were playing around and making changes to the design, which is costly and requires a significant amount of money."

Trump stated, "The generals and admirals entered, and they suggested, 'Why don't we make it wider? Let's do this. Let's do that.' However, it was designed for speed, and when you widen it, it slows down."

"Although we had it figured out, they made modifications. It seems like they're always making changes. You know, these individuals believe they're intelligent, but unfortunately, in many instances, they're not, and they make things worse for a larger group."

Ronald Reagan, upon becoming president, aimed to rebuild the US Navy with a goal of 600 ships. However, his administration ended a subsidy for shipbuilding, which devastated the commercial market, leaving US shipyards solely focused on meeting military demands.