Newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing to "take back" the Panama Canal, the world's second busiest interoceanic waterway.

Panama is inching closer to China, Trump's new Federal Maritime Commission head Louis Sola tells CNBC, and 'all options on the table' to defend U.S. business.

When the Panama Canal was unveiled by the United States in 1914, the roughly 50-mile-long waterway symbolized American power and technological advancement. But the glow of progress soon faded. Building the canal killed roughly 5,