U.S. President Donald Trump is advancing efforts to revitalize the country's shipbuilding sector by announcing his plans to create a new office of shipbuilding.

"To boost our defence industrial base, we are also going to resurrect the American shipbuilding industry, including commercial shipbuilding and military shipbuilding. And for that purpose, I am announcing tonight that we will create a new office of shipbuilding in the White House and offer special tax incentives to bring this industry home to America, where it belongs," Trump said in a speech to a joint session of Congress.

"We used to make so many ships. We don’t make them anymore very much, but we’re going to make them very fast, very soon. It will have a huge impact," he added.

The U.S. has seen a significant decline in shipbuilding activities since the 1970s. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said in January that while American shipyards produced 70 vessels in 1975, they now only construct about five ships annually compared to China's 1,700 ships per year.

Recently, it announced plans to impose substantial new port fees on Chinese vessels and ships constructed in China that enter its ports to reduce reliance on Chinese shipping.

The USTR office has proposed fees exceeding US$1 million per port of call in the country following an investigation that examined China's growing dominance in global shipbuilding, maritime, and logistics.