CHICAGO — July 30, 2026 — The United States cannot rebuild its maritime strength by focusing solely on its ocean coasts. Instead, the nation's industrial resurgence depends on recognizing the Great Lakes as
CHICAGO — July 30, 2026 — The United States cannot rebuild its maritime strength by focusing solely on its ocean coasts. Instead, the nation's industrial resurgence depends on recognizing the Great Lakes as one of America's five maritime coastlines and leveraging the region's unmatched manufacturing ecosystem, according to U.S. Maritime Administrator Stephen M. Carmel.
Speaking at the American Great Lakes Ports Association's annual meeting in Chicago today, Carmel argued that the Great Lakes should be viewed not as a regional transportation network, but as a national strategic asset that is central to rebuilding America's commercial shipbuilding and industrial base.
"For generations, we have spoken as though the United States had three coasts—the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Gulf," Carmel said. "That has never been true. America has five coasts: the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Gulf, the Great Lakes and the Arctic."
While the Arctic has increasingly become a focal point for national security and geopolitical competition, Carmel said the Great Lakes deserve equal strategic attention – and funding – because they connect directly to North America's industrial heartland through the St. Lawrence Seaway and represent one of the country's few remaining complete maritime ecosystems.
Carmel said Washington is beginning to
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