White House Considering USVI Maritime Flag, Expert Says

President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs could have inadvertently created ideal conditions for a reimagined U.S. Virgin Islands shipping industry, maritime insiders have said.

Creating a first-ever U.S. Virgin Islands shipping registry would allow cargo vessels and other commercial ships the assurances that come with U.S. jurisdiction but not the regulatory baggage mandated by federal codes on the mainland, said Eric Dawicki, president of the Northeast Maritime Institute.

Dawicki and others from the Center for Ocean Policy and Economics floated the plan for a USVI shipping registry — commonly known as a ship’s flag state — in late 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic caused upheaval in the global supply chain. In February 2022, Dawicki signed a memorandum of understanding with Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. to revitalize the U.S. maritime industry, beginning with creating an open registry in the Virgin Islands. This new flag state would allow foreign container, cruise, tanker, and other commercial vessels to register in the territory. Those ships, however, will be held to the highest safety, labor, and environmental standards, Dawicki said.

Three years later, the plan has reportedly reached the Trump White House, which threw global shipping into question by announcing steep tariffs on almost all goods arriving at U.S. ports — including up to 145 percent on Chinese merchandise.

“The rising wave of protectionist economic policies, including proposed tariffs and decoupling from adversarial supply chains, has exposed the vulnerability of America’s maritime logistics,” Dawicki told the Source Friday. “While no formal announcement was made at the time, we understood through back-channel briefings and maritime advisers aligned with administration policy that there was appetite for bold, private-sector-driven initiatives — particularly ones that bypass burdensome domestic regulatory constraints while reinforcing U.S. control and economic return. This project is bold, but is a proven successful model being driven by friends and foes around the world who have exposed maritime trade and commerce policy as substandard.”