The move is part of an effort to boost US shipbuilding and challenge China’s industry domination.
The Trump administration has announced plans to charge port fees on Chinese construction vessels to level the arenas in the global shipbuilding market with reduced penalties to limit the impact on American businesses and consumers.
Service charges for ships built in China will begin at $18 per netton or $120 per container, whichever is higher, and will increase over the next three years.
Additionally, unbuilt in the US will be charged $150 per unit equivalent to a vehicle. This is a measurement of the space featured by a standard passenger car.
Each vessel is charged once per voyage and no more than five times a year, USTR said. Ship owners may qualify for exemptions when placing orders for US-built ships, but if they do not deliver the ordered vessel within three years, the deferred fee will be due immediately.
USTR also noted plans to charge liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, but these will not be effective until 2028.
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“Shipping and transport are crucial to the free flow of American economic security and commerce,” US trade representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement announcing the changes. “The actions of the Trump administration will reverse China’s control, address threats to the US supply chain and begin sending demand signals for US-built ships.”
The measures announced Thursday are medium to the original proposal announced in February, under which ships built in China will be charged up to $3.5 million each time they dock into US ports. That earlier version would have charged fees based on the number of Chinese-built ships in the fleet or based on future vessel orders from China.
The report details discriminatory non-market practices in Beijing, including both public and private enterprise state directions, extensive subsidies and unfair labor practices. It also highlights government support for steel overproduction capacity, along with state-led industrial integration aimed at creating barriers for foreign companies to access the Chinese market.
The reports show that these policies “weakened competition and had a dramatic impact and gained market share,” increasing China’s global shipbuilding power to over 50% from under 5% in 1999.
Today, Chinese-made vessels make up a large part of the fleet operated by the world’s largest shipping company, with China itself commanding almost a fifth of the world’s commercial shipping fleet.
In contrast, the US shipbuilding industry, once a global leader in decades after World War II, suffered from long-term declines, and now accounts for less than 1% of global production.
