The USA has announced it will take a phased approach to introducing port fees on Chinese-linked ships based on vessel capacity, FreightWaves reported.
Announced on 17 April, the revised scheme followed a wave of opposition during public hearings in March from shippers, exporters and other maritime stakeholders to millions of dollars in fees proposed by the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the report on the same date said.
With China producing about 1,700 ships/year compared to around five for the USA, the USTR’s long-term plan is also expected to include an increase in domestic shipyard capacity, according to the report.
Opponents to the original fees, which could have totalled as much as US$3M/ship for each call, said it would have devastated ocean shipping to US ports, FreightWaves wrote.
Welcoming the USTR’s modified scheme, the US Wheat Associates (USW) and the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) were quoted as saying in an 18 April World Grain report that it would protect the competitiveness of US farm commodity exports.
In a joint statement, the organisations said the original proposals had created “uncertainty” and fear that additional port fees had been making overseas customers hesitant to make purchases.
Under the revised USTR scheme, as of 17 April, there would be no fee on Chinese vessel owners and operators for the first 180 days. After that, the charge would be $50/tonne for each trip, increasing incrementally over the following years up to US$140/tonne by 17 April 2028. The fee would be charged up to five times/year for each vessel.
The fees would not be stacked but applied per vessel for each rotation or string of port calls, FreightWaves wrote.
For Chinese-built ships, there would be no fee for the first 180 days, then US$18/tonne increasing incrementally to US$33 by 17 April 2028, with fees charged up to five times/year for each vessel. That fee would be applied if it was higher than alternate charges of US$120/container unloaded, increasing to US$250 after three years.
The changes exempt US-flagged carriers operating Chinese-built ships in short-sea service, and speciality export vessels such as liquid bulk carriers.
Fees would also not apply to Chinese-built ships:
• Carrying US government cargo.
• Arriving empty, such as a ship loading US exports.
• With a capacity of, equal to, or less than 4,000 20ft equivalent units, 55,000 deadweight tonnes or an individual bulk capacity of 80,000 deadweight tonnes.
• Vessels entering a US port in continental USA from a trip of less than 2,000 nautical miles [3,218km] from an overseas port.
• US-owned vessels, where the US entity owning the vessel is controlled by US citizens and at least 75% beneficially owned by US citizens.
• Vessels operating on the Great Lakes.
Vessel operators would be eligible for a fee remission for up to three years if it ordered and took delivery of a US-built vessel of equivalent size within that period, FreightWaves wrote.
“Ships and shipping are vital to American economic security and the free flow of commerce,” US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was quoted as saying.
“The Trump administration’s actions will begin to reverse Chinese dominance, address threats to the US supply chain and send a demand signal for US-built ships.”
The USTR proposed the port fees following a 2024 Section 301 investigation of China’s shipping and shipbuilding requested by a group of US trade unions, which found that China had allegedly used unfair trade advantages to attain dominance in the sectors, FreightWaves wrote.
In 2024, China became the largest global shipbuilder, accounting for more than half of all deployed merchant ships and those on order, according to the report.
