US targets China ships, operators with millions of dollars in new port charges

In a major retaliatory move against China, the United States is proposing expensive charges that could add millions of dollars in costs for ocean container lines and other carriers calling U.S. ports.

The proposal by the office of  the United States Trade Representative (USTR), published Friday in the Federal Register, sets fees as high as $1.5 million per U.S. port call for ships built in China and $500,000 for a vessel operator with even a single Chinese-built ship in its fleet, or on order with a China shipyard.

A charge of $1 million per call would be assessed on China-based vessel operators including Cosco, the world’s fourth-largest container line. 

The plan will send tremors through the maritime supply chain serving the world’s largest market, where major ocean carriers operate in a complex network of cooperation ranging from service routes to berthing arrangements and sharing of vessels. Carriers will likely pass on the expensive new fees to shippers in the form of surcharges and higher rates, who in turn will pass them on as higher prices for imported goods.