I vaguely remember reading that there were shipping routes that would be half the time and distance if the ice was melted... And some ships run during the summer months... Mostly from Russia to Europe... Iirc...
The route will become more popular, it's not a route the US can in anyway block.
If i'm not mistaken Russia can now ship 8~10 months of the year via the artic route, they want/are planning to create more nuclear ice breakers i'm sure the Chinese are more then willing to make sure the Artic route stays open the whole year.