On the 17th, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) announced the final measures of the 301 investigation into China's maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, among which the measures to collect port fees on Chinese-built and operated ships will take effect in mid-October this year. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce of China said on the 18th that the United States was determined to issue relevant restrictive measures. China is strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed to this. China will closely monitor the relevant developments of the United States and will resolutely take necessary measures to safeguard its own rights and interests. According to the content of the US announcement, the new regulations adopt a voyage charging system based on tonnage or containers, rather than the charging model for the number of port calls that the industry is worried about. The annual charge for each ship is capped at 5 times, and shipowners can be exempted if they order ships built in the United States. The collection of port fees will start from 180 days later and will be carried out in two stages: in the first stage, Chinese shipowners and operators will be charged $50 per net ton per voyage, and operators from other countries using Chinese-built ships will be charged $18 per net ton per voyage or $120 per container. The fees will increase by different amounts each year over the next three years; the second stage will start three years later and will impose restrictions on the use of foreign ships to transport liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the United States. The Wall Street Journal said that previously, the USTR planned to impose restrictions on Chinese ships docking at US ports.
The Wall Street Journal said that previously, USTR planned to impose a fee of up to $1.5 million on Chinese ships docking at US ports, and even operators who have ordered Chinese ships will face a docking fee of up to $1 million. The Wall Street Journal said that under strong opposition from the industry, the US Trade Representative decided not to impose fees on companies' future orders of Chinese ships. The British Guardian mentioned that since February, the Office of the US Trade Representative has significantly downplayed the original plan - the US domestic industry warned that collecting port fees will push up US consumer prices. The move has also caused concerns in the global shipping industry. Most of the ships in the fleets of the world's top ten shipping companies are made in China. Foreign media believe that in the context of the US tariff increase, this plan may further aggravate international trade chaos. According to reports from British and American media, the new regulations will directly affect Chinese companies such as COSCO Shipping, which has the largest global shipping capacity, and will also affect international giants such as Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping that have ordered a large number of Chinese ships. According to the BBC, Forgione, director general of the Chartered Export and International Trade Association, said that the US tariff measures have caused a "serious backlog" of ships, especially in the EU region, and British ports have also seen "significant congestion." He said this was a direct impact of the US government's policies, adding that increased uncertainty and confusion had pushed up consumer prices. "Measures such as levying port fees and imposing tariffs on cargo handling equipment are harmful to both sides, pushing up global shipping costs and disrupting the stability of the global supply chain. They will also increase domestic inflationary pressure in the United States, harm the interests of US consumers and businesses, and ultimately fail to revive the US shipbuilding industry," said Lin Jian, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a regular press conference on the 18th.
The following is the view of the Taiwan media in China. The United States announced a new plan to collect port fees from Chinese ships, and the impact may be less than expected. The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) recently released a plan to collect port fees from relevant Chinese ships. The main contents of the plan include: Charge objects and standards: For ships owned or operated by China and manufactured in China: higher port fees are levied. The initial standard is $50 per net ton for each stop at a US port, and an increase of $30/net ton per year in the next three years. For ships manufactured in China but not operated by Chinese operators: a lower fee is levied. The initial standard is $18 per net ton or $120 per container (either or in proportion) for each stop, and an increase of $5/net ton or a corresponding proportion of container fees will be made each year in the next three years. The charges will be implemented 6 months after the plan is announced, and each ship will be levied a maximum of 5 times per year.
Policy purpose: The move aims to weaken China's dominance in the shipping sector and support the domestic shipbuilding industry in the United States. Analysts' views and market impact: Plan adjustment: Analysts pointed out that compared with the previously disclosed version, the officially announced plan has significantly reduced the charging standards and amounts. The main changes also include: the fee has been changed to a gradual increase, and the charging targets are clearly ships that actually dock at US ports (rather than based on the proportion of Chinese ships in the entire fleet of the shipping company). Impact on shipping companies: Shipping companies can avoid or reduce the impact of the fee by adjusting their route deployment. Therefore, the actual impact of the new plan on the supply and demand balance and freight rates on US routes is expected to be smaller than previously expected. Impact on Taiwan shipping companies: Taiwan's three major container shipping companies - Evergreen Marine, Yang Ming Marine Transport, and Wan Hai Lines currently use a very low proportion of mainland China-made ships on US routes (0%, 17%, and 0%, respectively). Analysts believe that this policy may benefit them instead, as it may lead to the opportunity for long-term freight rates on US routes to rise. Impact on China and other shipping companies: Consulting agencies believe that the plan will have an impact on Chinese shipping companies such as COSCO Shipping Group and increase their operating costs. In contrast, Taiwanese and South Korean shipping companies, whose fleets have a smaller proportion of Chinese-made ships, are likely to benefit.
Potential consequences: In the long run, this may lead to higher freight rates, certain disruptions to the supply chain, and prompt global ship orders to shift from China to Japan, South Korea and other places. In the short term, shippers may bear higher transportation costs and face freight fluctuations. Current market conditions: Freight forwarders said that despite previous news about tariff policy adjustments (such as the announcement of a 90-day suspension of tariffs during the Trump era), it did not trigger market scrambles, burst cabins or a sharp increase in freight rates. The market is currently in a wait-and-see state, and most importers have prepared goods in advance, and the overall capacity is relatively surplus. Although the situation in the Red Sea has caused some ships to detour and absorbed some capacity in the short term, the pressure of long-term oversupply remains. Therefore, shipping companies are generally adopting the strategy of "controlling cabins and maintaining prices" (i.e. reducing market capacity supply by canceling some voyages/Blank Sailing) to maintain freight rates stable. AI estimates the possible impact on freight rates: 1. Typical ship size (TEU capacity) on the China-US route The China-US route (trans-Pacific route) is one of the busiest and most important container transportation corridors in the world. In pursuit of economies of scale, shipping companies usually deploy large or even ultra-large container ships on this route. Common range: In recent years, the capacity of ships deployed on this route is generally between 8,000 TEU and 18,000 TEU. "TEU" (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) is a unit of measurement for a standard container (20 feet long). A 40-foot container is counted as 2 TEU. Main ship type: "Neo-Panamax" ships are very common, with a capacity of about 10,000 to 15,000 TEU. Ultra-large ships: Some trunk routes, especially those calling at large ports on the west coast of the United States (such as Los Angeles/Long Beach), also use "ultra-large container ships" (ULCVs) with a capacity of more than 18,000 TEU. For the sake of convenience, we can select a few representative sizes, such as 10,000 TEU and 15,000 TEU as examples.
2. Estimate the cost of the additional fees allocated to each container. The fees published by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) are based on the "net tonnage" (NT) of the ship or directly calculated by the number of containers. Net tonnage is a unit of measurement of the available profit space (cargo hold volume) inside the ship. It has a certain relationship with TEU capacity, but it is not a simple linear conversion and is greatly affected by the specific ship design. We need to find the net tonnage data of typical ships to estimate. Net tonnage estimation (very rough): The net tonnage value of large container ships is usually smaller than its TEU value. According to some public ship data: A ship of about 10,000 TEU may have a net tonnage of about 50,000 NT. A ship of about 15,000 TEU may have a net tonnage of about 70,000 NT. (Note: This is a very rough estimate, actual values vary from vessel to vessel) Cost Calculation: High Rate (Chinese Owned/Operated and Made in China): Initial $50/Net Ton For a 10,000 TEU vessel (assuming 50,000 NT): Total Cost = 50,000 NT * $50/NT = $2,500,000 / each call. Apportioned to each TEU (full load) = $2,500,000 / 10,000 TEU = $250 / TEU For a 15,000 TEU vessel (assuming 70,000 NT): Total Cost = 70,000 NT * $50/NT = $3,500,000 / each call. Cost per TEU (full load) = $3,500,000 / 15,000 TEU = about $233 / TEU Low rate (Made in China, not operated in China): Initial $18/net ton or $120/container Calculated at $18/net ton: For a 10,000 TEU (assuming 50,000 NT) vessel: Total cost = 50,000 NT * $18/NT = $900,000 / each call. Cost per TEU (full load) = $900,000 / 10,000 TEU = $90 / TEU For a 15,000 TEU (assuming 70,000 NT) vessel: Total cost = 70,000 NT * $18/NT = $1,260,000 / each call. = $1,260,000 / 15,000 TEU = $84 / TEU Calculated at $120 / container: The fee is $120 / TEU. Conclusion and analysis: The impact of high charges is significant: For ships that need to pay $50 / net ton, the additional cost per standard container is about $230 - $250. This is a considerable proportion of the basic ocean freight rate, which is usually several thousand dollars, and is enough to strongly encourage shipping companies to divert such ships away from the US route. The impact of low charges is relatively mild: For ships subject to lower charges, if calculated at $18 / net ton, the cost per TEU is about $80 - $90. This amount is lower than the fee charged directly at $120 / container. Therefore, for large ships, operators are likely to choose to pay by net tonnage, and the actual additional cost is around $80-$90 / TEU. Although this is an additional expense, its impact is much smaller than that of high charges and is more easily absorbed by the market or covered by a small adjustment in freight rates. Important note: The above calculation is based on the average allocation of the total cost to each TEU when fully loaded. In practice, the ship may not be fully loaded, and the fee is charged on a "per call" basis (up to 5 times per year), which may not be directly related to the actual number of containers loaded and unloaded at a single call. If the number of containers handled at a single call is small, the cost allocated to each actual container handled will be higher. The correspondence between net tonnage and TEU is estimated and varies greatly from ship to ship, which affects the accuracy of the calculation. This fee is an additional cost that will eventually be passed on to the shipper (importer and exporter) in the form of freight. In general, this new regulation has a huge impact on different types of ships. High charges are almost punitive, while low charges, although they also increase costs, are relatively easier to manage.
