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THE United States and China have each begun levying new port fees on vessels tied to one another's shipping sectors, turning global sea routes into a new flashpoint in the ongoing economic standoff between the world’s two largest economies.
Reuters cited Beijing confirming on Tuesday it has begun collecting special charges on US-owned, US-operated, US-built or US-flagged ships, but announced that vessels built in China would be exempt from the new fees.
The charges will apply either at the first Chinese port of entry on a given voyage or to the first five voyages in a year, in line with a billing cycle beginning each April.
According to state broadcaster CCTV, exemptions will also apply to empty ships arriving for repairs at Chinese shipyards.
The US, for its part, is imposing parallel port fees targeting Chinese-linked vessels, in a bid to weaken Beijing’s grip on the global maritime and shipbuilding industries and revive domestic US shipbuilding.
These measures follow a probe conducted during the Biden administration, which concluded that China had used unfair practices to gain dominance across shipbuilding, logistics and freight sectors.
The maritime levies come just days after former President Donald Trump — now running for office again — announced a plan to impose new 100% tariffs on Chinese goods and export controls on critical software by 1 November.
The timing of the port fee implementation underscores a broader revival of US-China trade hostilities.
Analysts expect the impact to be substantial. Chinese state-owned container giant COSCO is likely to bear nearly half of the estimated US$3.2 billion cost of the US levies by 2026, according to projections.
In retaliation, China’s countermeasure is anticipated to affect around 13% of the global crude tanker fleet and 11% of container ships, based on estimates from Jefferies analyst Omar Nokta.
Athens-based Xclusiv Shipbrokers warned that the reciprocal measures “lock both economies into a spiral of maritime taxation that risks distorting global freight flows.”
Beyond economics, maritime policy is also being pulled into the geopolitical arena.
In a separate but related development, US officials warned of possible sanctions, port bans or further charges against countries supporting a new United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) plan aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions in ocean shipping.
The move appears to target China, which supports the IMO's emissions initiative.
“The weaponisation of both trade and environmental policy signals that shipping has moved from being a neutral conduit of global commerce to a direct instrument of statecraft,” Xclusiv noted in its report.
The maritime standoff further intensifies a widening trade rift, with strategic control of shipping lanes and shipyards emerging as key battlegrounds in the recalibration of global economic power. - October 14, 2025
