China retaliates against U.S. port fees with charges on American ships

BEIJING — China on Friday announced that starting Oct. 14, the country will start charging U.S. ships for docking at Chinese ports — a direct response to Washington for imposing fees on Chinese vessels arriving at U.S. ports, set to take effect the same day.

The U.S. fees “seriously violate” international trading principles and “seriously damages” China-U.S. maritime trade, the Chinese Ministry of Transport said in the announcement, translated by CNBC.

China will charge 400 yuan ($56) per net ton for the U.S. vessels, essentially the same as the $50 per net ton that the U.S. is imposing on Chinese ships. Beijing also matched the U.S. with plans to increase the fees over time through April 17, 2028, with the same effective dates.

In the “short term, [the imposition of fees on Chinese vessels] will result in an increase in costs for U.S. consumers, a decrease in profits for shippers, and a small decline in demand for exports to the U.S. in certain categories,” said Michael Hart, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

In the longer term, he said there could be more demand for non-Chinese ships. But he didn’t expect an increase in demand for U.S.-made vessels due to their high costs and low shipbuilding capacity.

The U.S. accounts for only 0.1% of global shipbuilding, compared to 53.3% for China, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

That outsized Chinese market share prompted the U.S. to develop a policy, beginning under the Biden administration, to charge Chinese-made ships when arriving at U.S. ports.

The Chinese Ministry of Transport said the fees would apply to vessels owned by U.S. businesses, organizations, individuals and entities holding a 25% or greater stake. Ships flying the U.S. flag or made in Washington would also be charged, the ministry said.

This is “just more tit-for-tat negotiating tactics. The U.S. placed similar fees on Chinese-bound vessels and now China is doing the same,” said Peter Alexander, managing director of Z-Ben Advisors in Shanghai.

“The Trump administration continues to underestimate China and this needs to stop,” Alexander said. “There seems to be little consideration given to second and third-order effects of policy choices.”

He added: “China can give as good as it gets and has demonstrated a willingness to take direct action. Have there been any lessons learned by the Americans over the past six months?  It certainly doesn’t seem so.”

The Chinese port fee announcement comes after China doubled down on its export restrictions and broadened its “unreliable entities” blacklist to include chip consulting firm TechInsights, in the last two days.

U.S.-China tensions have remained elevated despite a call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last month, and expectations of a meeting between the two leaders in South Korea in coming weeks.

While Trump has played up progress on a deal for Beijing-based ByteDance to sell the U.S. operations of its TikTok app, China has been less conclusive.