US Plans Port Fees For Chinese Ships To Revitalize American Maritime Industrial Base

The Trump administration announced plans on Thursday to impose new port fees on Chinese commercial vessels—part of a broader effort to revive America’s dwindling shipbuilding industry, which officials now view as a national security risk amid the urgent need to bolster hemispheric defense across the Americas in an increasingly fractured, bipolar world.

“Ships and shipping are vital to American economic security and the free flow of commerce,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer wrote in a statement, adding, “The Trump administration’s actions will begin to reverse Chinese dominance, address threats to the U.S. supply chain, and send a demand signal for U.S.-built ships.”

The Federal Register notice titled “Notice of Action and Proposed Action in Section 301 Investigation of China’s Targeting the Maritime, Logistics, and Shipbuilding Sectors for Dominance, Request for Comments,” published Thursday by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), states that new fees will be imposed on all Chinese-built and Chinese-owned ships docking at ports across America. These fees will be based on net tonnage or the volume of goods carried per voyage and will only be charged once per voyage and not per port arrival.

“The fee will be set at $0 for the first 180 days, will then be set at $50/NT, and will increase incrementally over the next three years,” the USTR notice read. 

Service Fee on Chinese Vessel Operators and Vessel Owners of China (courtesy of CNBC):

• Effective as of April 17, 2025, a fee in the amount of $0 per net ton for the arriving vessel.

• Effective as of October 14, 2025, a fee in the amount of $50 per net ton for the arriving vessel.

• Effective as of April 17, 2026, a fee in the amount of $80 per net ton for the arriving vessel.

• Effective as of April 17, 2027, a fee in the amount of $110 per net ton for the arriving vessel.

• Effective as of April 17, 2028, a fee in the amount of $140 per net ton for the arriving vessel.

The USTR notice explained that “any such fee would be charged per rotation or string of U.S. port calls, and no more than five times a year on an individual vessel.” 

Service fees for vessel operators of Chinese-built vessels are lower.

• Effective as of April 17, 2025, a fee in the amount of $0 for each container discharged.

• Effective as of October 14, 2025, a fee in the amount of $18 per net ton ($120 per container)

• Effective as of April 17, 2026, a fee in the amount of $23 per net ton ($153 per container)

• Effective as of April 17, 2027, a fee in the amount of $28 per net ton ($195 per container)

• Effective as of April 17, 2028, a fee in the amount of $33 per net ton ($250 per container).

The second phase will begin in three years and target Chinese LNG vessels. USTR explained the purpose of this action:

“To incentivize U.S.-built liquified natural gas (LNG) vessels, limited restrictions on transporting LNG via foreign vessels. These restrictions will increase incrementally over 22 years.”

New taxes on Chinese commercial ships add to the complexity of a broadening trade war between the two economic superpowers. Trump recently slapped all Chinese goods entering the U.S. with a 145% effective tariff rate, while Beijing has slapped all U.S. goods entering China with a 125% levy.

The USTR notice continued, “A few comments agreed with the proposals, noting that the proposed fees would address trade imbalances, enhance national security, support investment in the American maritime industrial base, and promote higher environmental and labor standards. One commenter suggested that the proposed fees be captured in a U.S. shipbuilding and mariner compensation trust fund to be expended each year for reviving the U.S. merchant marine.”

Time to make America’s shipbuilding industry Great Again.