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PORT FEES

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May 1, 2025 | Newsletter 2025 May

The initial volley by US Trade Representative (USTR) called for fees on Chinese-made vessels of roughly $1M per US port of call. After hearing the pleas from all facets of the industry, the USTR revised the plan to assess the tax on a per ton basis with a maximum assessment of five times per year, per vessel.

The fees will begin this year with increases each year for the next three years. The fee schedule is as follows:

 

Implementation DateChinese Vessel Owners w Chinese-Built ShipsChinese-Built ShipsChinese-Built Ships
Per TonPer TonPer Container
04/17/2025$0$0$0
10/14/2025$50$18$120
04/17/2026$80$23$153
04/17/2027$110$28$195
04/17/2028$140$33$250

 

Container vessels can range between 50,000 – 220,000 tons. As a frame of reference, a 13,000 TEU vessel has a net tonnage of more than 63,000 tons.

For Chinese-built ships not operated by a Chinese company, the fees will be the greater of a per ton or per container basis.

These fees can be averted if a vessel operator provides a ship-building order from a US shipyard. The fee waiver would be equal to the tonnage of the US-built vessel. However, if the vessel order is canceled, the fees will be collected in arrears.

COSCO and OOCL will definitely be hit harder by these fees as they both fall into the first category of Chinese-owned company operating Chinese-built ships.

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