The U.S. and China have implemented reciprocal port fees. As of today, both countries have started to charge additional fees from each other’s ships.
The Beijing administration announced that with the regulation, special port fees will be collected from all ships “owned by the U.S., operated by the U.S., built in the U.S., or flying the U.S. flag.” However, Chinese-built ships will be exempt from these fees. Additionally, ships entering Chinese shipyards empty for repairs will also be excluded from this practice. The fees will be collected for each ship on its first voyage of the year or covering its first five voyages within a year.
The U.S. also implemented its own port fees on the same day. With this decision, the U.S. administration aims to break China’s dominance in the global maritime and shipbuilding industry and to promote American shipbuilding. The Trump administration had announced this step earlier in the year. It was stated that an investigation conducted previously during the Biden administration had determined that China ‘gained a competitive advantage through unfair policies in the maritime and logistics sectors,’ which paved the way for these sanctions.
