US shipbuilding’s China fixation recalls failed renaissance
Three decades ago, calls to retaliate against Japanese and South Korean subsidies failed to avert the decline in US shipbuilding. Punishing China now would fail to reverse it
Vessel-tracking data shows about 10% of merchant ships built in China called at US ports in recent months, highlighting the damage that retaliation from Washington could do. But penalising the Middle Kingdom will not be enough to resurrect US yards