Is the United States a Maritime or Coastal State?

Is the United States a maritime or coastal State? To answer this question let’s start by defining these concepts.  Nations that are primarily concerned with navigation are considered maritime states.[1]  They distinguish themselves by dominating the ocean with their naval forces to protect the freedom of the seas and international trade since their prosperity depends on navigating the seas to secure commercial access.[2]

In contrast, nations that focus on the security and use of marine resources are called coastal States.[3] Coastal nations tend to assert authority over the waters adjacent to their territory because they are interested in exploiting the living and non-living resources found in those waters. Coastal nations are often inclined to oppose freedom of the seas because they fear maritime States will appropriate the resources within their adjacent waters.[4]

Based on these definitions, let us examine the behavior of the United States to determine whether it falls under the definition of a coastal or maritime State. In the 1950s, the United States merchant marine was the largest in the world,[5] carrying one-third of global trade. After World War II, American shipyards dominated the production of ships worldwide.[6]  Naval strength made the United States a maritime power[7] with a  military fleet that allows it to impose its sovereignty worldwide and safeguard international trade.[8]

However, U.S. maritime power has declined. In October 2021, the Office of Naval Intelligence concluded that China has the world's largest naval force.[9]  The United States has lost much of its shipbuilding capability, putting Americans at a disadvantage to China, which dominates global ship production.[10]  The U.S. maritime dominance decline extends to its merchant marine, which has been shrinking for decades and currently carries only 1.5% of its maritime exports and imports.[11]  Despite these facts, the United States remains a maritime power, and sailing the seas freely is one of its priorities.[12]  However, throughout its history, the U.S. has ventured into other areas.

Beginning in the 1940s, the United States began to behave as a coastal nation. In 1945, U.S. President Harry S. Truman proclaimed exclusive jurisdiction over resources above and below the U.S. continental shelf.[13]  In 1976, they claimed jurisdiction over fishery resources within what they called the 200-mile fishery conservation zone.[14]  The federal government's tendency to expand its marine boundaries continued. During the eighties and nineties, they extended their territorial waters, initially to twelve nautical miles and then to twenty-four nautical miles arguing that this will help stopping the extraction of their cultural heritage.[15]  The acts sent a message to any nation, and even the U.S. states, that sought to claim jurisdiction over such areas.[16]  According to the definitions discussed, we can say that the United States also exhibits the behavior of a coastal nation.

Interestingly, the United States opposed measures proposed by the United Nations to expand territorial waters and the Exclusive Economic Zone. President Reagan's administration rejected the Law of the Sea Convention because it declared the seabed as common heritage of mankind, which undermines U.S. sovereignty and jurisdiction over resources found on the seafloor, particularly mineral resources.[17]  In addition, the treaty required member states to share technology related to resource exploitation, which the United States was unwilling to do.[18] The United States refused to join the treaty for the aforementioned reasons, even though the treaty pursued the same goal of expanding marine boundaries.

Although the United States expanded its marine boundaries, the American industries responsible for exploiting those areas do not dominate the world market. In 2016, the United States ranked fifth among countries extracting offshore oil, while Saudi Arabia ranked first.[19]  Similarly, the United States ranked fifth in the list of fishing countries, whereas China ranked first. Despite U.S. aspirations to become a coastal nation, it has failed to dominate the international market in related industries.

After presenting a brief historical account of the maritime and coastal facets of the United States, we can conclude that the United States is primarily a maritime nation. The United States became a maritime power with an imposing naval force and a long history of dominating international waters and trade. However, its dominance is threatened by the emergence of China as a maritime power. While it is true that the United States exploits and protects its marine resources, its maritime activities go beyond its coastal activities, making it primarily a maritime nation.

Footnotes

[1] Ted L. McDoorman et al., International Ocean Law 16, (2005).

[2] Rob Wittman, America is a maritime nation, and we need to start acting like it, Defense News (Oct. 2, 2020), https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/10/02/america-is-a-maritime-nation-and-we-need-to-start-acting-like-it.

[3] McDoorman, supra note 1.

[4] Id.

[5] Robert Little, U.S. merchant fleet sails toward oblivion, The Baltimore Sun (Aug. 6, 2001), https://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-te.bz.sealift06aug06-story.html.  

[6] Loren Thompson, U.S. Shipbuilding Is At Its Lowest Ebb Ever. How Did America Fall So Far?, Forbes (Jul. 23,  2021), https://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthompson/2021/07/23/us-shipbuilding-is-at-its-lowest-ebb-ever-how-did-america-fall-so-far/?sh=2a16477f6c87.

[7] Aaron Klein, Decline in U.S. Shipbuilding Industry: A Cautionary Tale of Foreign Subsidies Destroying U.S. Jobs, Enotrans (Sept.1, 2015), https://www.enotrans.org/article/decline-u-s-shipbuilding-industry-cautionary-tale-foreign-subsidies-destroying-u-s-jobs.

[8] Jonathan Masters, Sea Power: The U.S. Navy and Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations (Aug. 1, 2019), https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/sea-power-us-navy-and-foreign-policy.

[9] Alexander Wooley, Float, Move, and Fight: How the U.S. Navy lost the shipbuilding race, Foreign Policy (Oct. 10, 2021), https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/10/10/us-navy-shipbuilding-sea-power-failure-decline-competition-china.

[10] Id.; Thompson, supra note 6.

[11] Loren Thompson, Dwindling U.S. Merchant Fleet Is A Crisis Waiting To Happen, Forbes (Oct. 8, 2021), https://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthompson/2021/10/08/dwindling-us-merchant-fleet-is-a-crisis-waiting-to-happen/?sh=4919d2fb2a8d.

[12] McDoorman, supra note 1, at 60.

[13] Id.  at 57.

[14] Id.  at 58.

[15] Id. at 53-56.

[16] Id.

[17] Id.  at 30.

[18] Id.

[19] Stephen Rassenfoss, Ranking the Offshore Oil-Producing Countries, Journal of Petroleum Technology (Nov. 6, 2016), https://jpt.spe.org/ranking-offshore-oil-producing-countries.