/Associated Press Agency
China returned the favor and imposed reciprocal port fees on US-owned vessels docking in the country. This is in response to the port fees planned by the US government on Chinese ships, expanding a series of retaliatory measures ahead of trade talks between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Vessels owned or operated by US companies or individuals, and ships built in the United States or flying the US flag, will be subject to a fee of 400 yuan ($56) per net ton per voyage if they dock in China, China’s Ministry of Transport reported this Friday.
The fees would be applied to the same vessel for a maximum of five voyages each year and would increase every year until 2028, when they would rise to 1,120 yuan ($157) per net ton, according to the ministry. They would take effect on October 14, the same day the United States plans to begin imposing port fees on Chinese ships.
China’s Ministry of Transport announced in a statement that its special fees on US vessels are “countermeasures” in response to the “wrong” practices of the United States, referring to the port fees planned by Washington on Chinese vessels.
The ministry also criticized the US port fees as “discriminatory” which would “seriously harm the legitimate interests of China’s shipping industry” and “seriously undermine” the international economic and trade order.
China has announced a series of trade measures and restrictions ahead of an expected meeting between Trump and Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in South Korea beginning in late October. On Thursday, Beijing unveiled new restrictions on exports of rare earths and related technologies, as well as new restrictions on the export of some lithium batteries and related production equipment.
The port fees announced by Beijing on Friday resemble aspects of the port fees on Chinese ships docking at US ports. According to Washington’s plans, ships owned or operated by China will be charged $50 per net ton for each voyage to the United States, which will then increase by $30 per net ton each year until 2028.
Each vessel will be charged no more than five times a year.
China’s new port fee “is not just a symbolic move,” said Kun Cao, deputy managing director of the consultancy firm Reddal.
“It explicitly targets any vessel with significant links to the United States—ownership, operation, flag, or construction—and scales up abruptly with the vessel’s size,” he added.
“It especially affects US-owned and operated vessels,” he stated, adding that North America accounts for roughly 5% of the global fleet by beneficial ownership, which is still a significant figure although not as large compared to Greek, Chinese, and Japanese shipowners.
However, the US only has about 0.1% of the global market share for commercial shipbuilding in recent years and built fewer than 10 commercial ships last year, Reddal added.
Although shipping analysts have said that US port fees on Chinese vessels would likely have a limited impact on trade and freight rates, as some shipping companies have been redeploying their fleets to avoid the extra charge, the shipping data provider Alphaliner warned this month that US port fees could cost up to $3.2 billion next year for the world’s top 10 shipping lines.
