As part of a broader revision of the measures announced last April to strengthen US shipbuilding, the Ustr – that is, the US Trade Representative – revealed on Friday the intention to introduce new massive tariffs on “certain types of ship-to-shore cranes and cargo handling equipment” of Chinese origin or control.
In detail, the government office will introduce tariffs of 100% on the former (if manufactured or assembled in China, or by companies controlled by Chinese entities). The only exceptions will be those ordered under contracts stipulated before April 17, 2025, and which enter the country before April 18, 2027. To date, the applied tariffs, introduced by the Biden administration, are 25% and, writes the Wall Street Journal, it is not clear whether those announced on Friday will be in addition to these.
Customs duties of 150% will instead be introduced on intermodal transport chassis and their parts. A public consultation has also been launched regarding the possible application of a similar measure (with tariffs of up to 150%) on other Chinese-made port equipment such as rubber-tyred gantry cranes, rail-mounted gantry cranes, reachstackers, straddle carriers, terminal tractors and related components. Any comments and considerations can be submitted until November 10.
The tariffs on STS cranes and chassis will both be effective from November 9.
In parallel, the Ustr also announced some changes to previously announced measures. In particular, for those relating to car carrier ships, the calculation system will shift from Car Equivalent Units (Ceu) to net tons, with the tariff set at 46 dollars per ton on units built abroad, applicable up to 5 times per year per ship.
It should be noted that the Ustr also explained that it did not want to introduce, “at this time,” additional tariffs on intermodal transport containers, “in light of the potential impact on domestic carriers” of this measure.
The new move by the Trump administration comes just days after Beijing’s counterattack, which announced that starting tomorrow, October 14, ships owned or managed by US companies and individuals (or those built in the United States or flying the US flag) will be subject to additional port fees in Chinese ports. The fee will be 400 yuan (56.13 dollars) per net ton, declared the Chinese Ministry of Transport, with subsequent increases. An initiative that in turn was a response to the imminent US port fees, also starting tomorrow, October 14, on Chinese ships on their first call in the country within the same rotation, worth 80 dollars per net ton on the voyage to the United States.
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