Trump admin clarifies port fees on China-built ships, protects US exporters and shipowners
The Trump administration on Thursday shielded domestic exporters and vessel owners servicing the Great Lakes, the Caribbean and US territories from port fees to be levied on China-built vessels, designed to revive US shipbuilding and counter China's maritime dominance.
The Federal Register notice posted by the US Trade Representative was watered down from a proposal in February to hit China-built ships with fees of up to $1.5 million per port call, which sent a chill through the global shipping industry, despite it witnessing similar Trump-style tactics every day of his administration.
Ocean shipping executives feared virtually every carrier could be hit with stacking fees. They said the extra costs would make US export prices unattractive and foist billions of dollars in additional costs on American consumers.
The revised plan said the fee would be applied once per voyage on affected ships and not more than six times per year.
The agency also decided not to impose fees based on the percentage of Chinese-built ships in a fleet or based on prospective orders of Chinese ships, as it had originally proposed. Empty ships arrive at US ports to be loaded with bulk exports like coal or grain are also exempt.
Implementation of the fees will begin in six months. Affected bulk vessels will be assessed a fee based on cargo weight, while container ships will pay a fee based on the number of boxes carried. It was not immediately clear if those fees would be less than originally contemplated by USTR.
The decision comes on the one-year anniversary of the launch of USTR's investigation into China's maritime activities. In January, the agency concluded that China uses unfair policies and practices to dominate global shipping.
The revision followed public and private opposition from the global maritime industry, including domestic port and vessel operators as well as US exporters and importers of everything from coal and corn to bananas and concrete.
Industry executives had warned that US taxpayers, workers and even the US shipbuilders and owners the government aims to support could be harmed if the plan was adopted without adjustments.
Container ship operators such as MSC and Maersk visit multiple ports during each sailing to the United States and executives warned the fees would quickly pile up.
The USTR will host a hearing on May 19 to discuss proposed tariffs on ship-to-shore cranes, chassis that carry containers and chassis parts. China dominates the manufacture of port cranes and USTR plans to hit those with a 100 per cent tariff.
(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles, Andrea Shalal in Washington and Jonathan Saul in London; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Rod Nickel and Jamie Freed)
