World Shipping Council joins call for US to drop port fees on Chinese-linked ships

Industry groups back extending the pause to 9 January 2027, but warn that reviving the fees would raise costs for US businesses and consumers.

IMAGE: Flags of the US and China. Getty Images

Container shipping trade body World Shipping Council has joined a coalition of shipping, farm, retail and manufacturing groups urging the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) to suspend port fees on Chinese-linked vessels permanently.

The costs would ripple across shipping networks and influence where vessels are deployed, because China-built ships make up a sizeable share of global carrier capacity, the groups said in a joint letter.

The current suspension, in place for nearly a year, had shown that fees alone are no strategy for rebuilding US shipbuilding, they added. They called for long-term investment rather than “a port fee on Chinese-built vessels that were purchased years ago”.

Signatories include the International Chamber of Shipping, the Chamber of Shipping of America and the Center for LNG.

Under its Section 301 action, the USTR initially set a fee of $50/net ton on Chinese-owned or Chinese-operated vessels calling at US ports.

Operators of Chinese-built vessels that are not Chinese-owned or Chinese-operated were subject to a fee of $18/net ton or $120 per container discharged, whichever was higher. Both fee schedules were designed to increase annually over three years.

The measures were suspended on 10 November last year after talks between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The USTR has since proposed suspending them for a further two months.

By Gautamee Hazarika

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