Industrial capacity behind American arms control

Britain, the United States, Japan, and Italy competed over warship quality and technology, while German naval laws emphasized ship numbers for a risk-fleet strategy. Britain's industrial capabilities and export market rewarded continued technical competition. American political enthusiasm for continuous construction had weakened, yet the country's industrial base could still outproduce Japan. Japanese building was the immediate pressure that might prompt Congress to fund more ships. Limits on that construction offered Washington savings alongside recognition of parity with Britain. Formal equality in the treaty did not itself transfer global predominance to the United States; that shift is placed after the Second World War in this interpretation.