Shipping containers are arranged on a freight ship because they are discharged in Portmi on April 15, 2025 in Miami, Florida.
Joe Raedle Getty images
The Trump administration announced on Thursday fees On ships built by the Chinese after the investigation of a sales representative in the United States conducted by the Biden-Trump administration showed that acts, policy and internships in China were unjustified, and the burden or limitation of American trade.
“Ships and shipping are necessary for American economic security and free flow of trade,” said Jamieson Greer, a representative of US trade. “The actions of the Trump administration will begin to reverse Chinese domination, deal with threats to the American supply chain and sends a demand signal for ships built by the USA.”
Ustr said that China largely achieved their dominance through an increasingly aggressive and specific orientation of these sectors, seriously unfavorable American companies, employees and American economy.
The fees will be charged once for the journey, not for the port, as originally proposed.
The policy proposal began under the Biden administration and ended in the January report The Chinese shipbuilding industry had an unfair advantageIt would allow the US government to impose steep fees on Chinese ships coming to American ports. The original proposal required a service fee of up to $ 1 million for the fee of each Chinese operators (such as COSCo). The original proposal also stated that in the case of ocean carriers from outside the Chinese with a fleet containing Chinese ships, the service fee would be up to $ 1.5 million for each port in the USA.
Ustr decided that this change was made due to public comments during two days of interrogations on fines in March, in which over 300 trade groups and other interested parties testified. Many warned the government in letters and testimonies that the USA is No position to win the economic war This placed ocean carriers using Chinese vessels in the middle. Soon Chinese ships will represent 98% of commercial ships in the world.
Ship owners can be eligible for exemption if they can provide evidence of an American shipbuilding order. The result of the fee would be based on a net tonnage capacity equal to or less than ordered by an American ship. “If the potential owner of the ship does not accept the delivery of a ship built in the US ordered within three years, the fees will be immediate,” we read in the report.
Fee schedule
For the first 180 days, the fees would be set to zero and are divided into different categories. All fees are based on the ship's net tonnage. Container vessels can range from 50,000 to 220,000 tons.
Fee for services for Chinese ship operators and ship owners in China:
- From April 17, 2025, a fee of USD 0 for a net ton for the arriving ship.
- From October 14, 2025, a fee of USD 50 per ton of a net for arriving.
- From April 17, 2026, a fee of USD 80 per ton of net for the arriving ship.
- From April 17, 2027, a fee of USD 110 per ton of net for arriving.
- From April 17, 2028, a fee of USD 140 per ton of net for arriving.
The fee will be charged to five times a year, for a ship. The register did not break the price for the container.
Fees for services regarding vascular ship operators are lower.
- It applies: April 17, 2025, a fee of 0 USD for each released container.
- It is valid from October 14, 2025, a fee of USD 18 per ton of net (USD 120 per container)
- It is valid from April 17, 2026, a fee of USD 23 per ton of net (USD 153 per container)
- It is valid from April 17, 2027. A fee of USD 28 per ton of net (USD 195 per container)
- From April 17, 2028, a fee of USD 33 per ton of net (USD 250 per container).
The fee will be charged to five times a year, for a ship.
Fees for foreign car carriers will also be based on their capacity. The fee will start from USD 150 per balance unit of the car (CEU) within 180 days.
The second phase will not start in three years and will be directed to LNG ships. Ustr will limit LNG transport restrictions with foreign ships. These restrictions will increase gradually within 22 years.
Ocean carriers if they present proof of ordering a vessel built in the US, fees or restrictions on an equivalent ship not built by the US are suspended for up to three years.
Charges for ships built by Chinese effectively do not cover large lakes or Caribbean shipping, shipping to USA.
Mass exports, such as coal or grain, will be released, along with empty ships coming to the ports.
