Breaking News! The United States plans to relax the charging plan for China - Built ships!

2025-04-22

According to Reuters, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told members of Congress on Tuesday (April 8) that the proposed million - dollar fee for Chinese - built ships docking at US ports will not be fully implemented and will not be charged in combina-tion.

At the Senate Finance Committee hearing, Greer explained that these proposals aim to address the issue of the insufficient competitiveness of the US shipbuilding industry.

Greer said that after the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) completed its investigation into the Chinese maritime industry, the port fees are "options among a series of potential measures" aimed at revitalizing the US shipbuilding industry. "Not all of these measures will be implemented, nor will they be piled up," he especially emphasized.

Many shipping stakeholders have submitted public comments on the plan, and Greer has met with several of them in person. He said that the USTR is carefully studying these feedbacks and the testimonies at the public hearing at the end of March.

Greer said that the USTR hopes "to ensure that we have enough time and incentive measures to bring the shipbuilding industry to the US without affecting the economy", but he did not provide more details about the proposed remedial measures.

Three sources told Reuters that according to the feedback, the USTR's port fee plan may be implemented no earlier than November this year.

Although US steel manufacturers and industry unions appreciate the proposal, there are many opponents. At the hearing, US farmers, energy producers, chemical and construction companies, and ship operators said that the plan will bring them a heavy cost burden and may even lead to their bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, port operators in the United States have warned that these fees could trigger supply chain chaos.

U.S. maritime experts and lawyers said that the wording in the proposal released by the USTR in February was ambiguous. In addition, they also said that these fees, which are applicable to ships operating in China, fleets owning ships built in China, and operators potentially ordering ships built in China, could be cumulative, and in some cases, the fees for each port call could add up to as much as $3.5 million.

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