Eng
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative published a notice of action implementing its port fee proposal for Chinese-built and Chinese-owned vessels. In addition, fees are imposed on all vehicle carriers built outside of the U.S. And a similar fee will be introduced for gas tankers in the future.
The fees will take effect 180 days from the date of the notice, which is in October.
The previously planned fixed vessel entry fee has been replaced by a fee based on the vessel’s capacity. From October, Chinese ship-owners and operators will be charged USD 50 per net tonne of cargo, with the fee increasing by USD 30 per year thereafter to USD 140. The fee for Chinese-built vessels will be USD 18 per net tonne or USD 120 per discharged container in the first phase, further increasing annually to USD 33 and USD 250 respectively. The fee is based on the method that yields the greater amount.
Small vessels will be exempted from the fee: for container ships the threshold is set at 4,000 TEU, for dry bulk carriers at 80,000 deadweight tonnes, and for other vessels at 55,000 deadweight tonnes.
Vessels operating on short routes of less than 2,000 kilometres and vessels owned by U.S. companies and citizens will also be exempt from the fees.
The fee for non-U.S.-built vehicle carriers will be USD 150 per CEU from October 2025. The document envisages the refund of fees paid for a period of up to three years if the operator orders and takes delivery of a vessel built at a U.S. shipyard.
It is likely that we should now expect global maritime logistics to take on a dual flow model: shipping lines and global freight forwarders will start chartering ships and building routes to meet the new realities – for shipments to the U.S. and to other ports around the world. Newbuilding orders will also be reallocated.