Covid Exposed US Dependence on China, Other Countries, Trump Says

US President Donald Trump has said the Covid-19 pandemic exposed America’s dependence on China and other foreign countries for critical products, arguing that rebuilding domestic manufacturing capacity is essential to the country’s economic and national security.

Speaking at Sparrows Point in Maryland, Trump linked his administration’s drive to expand US shipbuilding with a broader effort to restore strategic manufacturing capacity at home.

“We learned that from COVID,” Trump said, referring to the risks associated with reliance on foreign suppliers.

He said the US had depended on other countries for products ranging from medicines to goods linked to agriculture, citing China, Ireland and other European countries.

Trump made the remarks as he announced a major expansion of US shipbuilding capacity at the former industrial site near Baltimore. His administration has made reshoring manufacturing and reducing dependence on foreign supply chains a key component of its economic and national-security policy.

China has been a particular focus of that strategy, with the Trump administration using tariffs and other trade measures while encouraging companies to shift production to the US.

At the same time, Trump said Washington continued to maintain an important economic relationship with Beijing.

“We have a very good — we’ve had — always had a good relationship, but we’re making a lot of money with China,” he said.

Trump also connected the industrial push to defence production, saying his administration had secured more than $76 billion in shipbuilding funding aimed at producing more than 80 new vessels for the US Navy.

At Sparrows Point, Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced plans for a new shipyard focused on manufacturing submarine components and autonomous underwater vessels.

The project combines federal funding with private investment as the administration seeks to expand an industrial base that officials say lacks the capacity to produce ships and submarines at the pace required by the US military.

Hegseth said the administration was demanding “speed, scale and urgency” from the Pentagon and defence companies.

The initiative reflects a broader shift in US policy under which supply chains for semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals, energy and defence equipment are increasingly being treated as matters of national security.