Trump Wants to Revive Shipping. Investors Are Slow to Back Him.

President Trump welcomed Rodolphe Saadé’s announcement that CMA CGM would invest $20 billion in the United States, but a year into his second term only a fraction of those funds has arrived. CMA CGM, a family-owned company based in Marseille and the world’s third-largest shipping line, said it intended to make the investments over four years.

The company has not announced orders from American shipyards. Building a commercial vessel in the United States can be up to five times as expensive as in Asia: three container ships at Hanwha’s Philadelphia yard cost $330 million each, while similar vessels from an Asian yard would cost as little as $75 million.

A person familiar with CMA CGM’s operations said the price made American-made container ships unfeasible. CMA CGM also pledged to place roughly 20 additional vessels under the American flag but has added just one. Higher wages for U.S.

United States, Philadelphia

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