China Retaliates Against US Port Fees With Additional Charges on American Ships

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Oct 11, 2025 - 09:57 Updated: Oct 11, 2025 - 09:50
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China Retaliates Against US Port Fees With Additional Charges on American Ships

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The Chinese communist regime has announced plans to charge U.S. ships docking at Chinese ports, in retaliation against Washington’s upcoming port fees targeting vessels built in China.

Ships owned or operated by U.S. entities and individuals, as well as vessels built in the United States and flying the American flag, will be subject to these new port fees, China’s transport ministry said in a notice on Oct. 10.

Each American ship will face a fee of 400 yuan ($56) per net ton of cargo, according to the notice. The fee is set to rise annually, reaching 880 yuan ($124) per net ton starting on April 17, 2027.

The additional fees would be enforced on Oct. 14, the ministry said, calling it a direct response to the U.S. plans for new port fees on Chinese ships.
The Trump administration’s decision to introduce the port fees on China-built vessels is part of a broader effort to level the playing field in the global shipbuilding industry and enhance domestic shipbuilding capability.
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The decision originated from a months-long investigation by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), which found that the regime’s trade polices and practices were “unreasonable” and severely damaging to U.S. companies, workers, and the economy, according to a report released in January.

The USTR outlined Beijing’s discriminatory, non-market practices, including state control of both publicly owned and private enterprises, extensive subsidies, and unfair labor practices in the report. It also highlighted government support for the excess production capacity of steel, along with state-led industrial consolidation aimed at creating barriers for foreign companies to access the Chinese market.

According to the report, these policies have “undercut competition and taken market share with dramatic effect,” boosting China’s share of global shipbuilding output from less than 5 percent in 1999 to more than 50 percent by 2023. This level of dominance gives China considerable influence over the pricing and availability of ships used in international trade.

Under the proposal unveiled by USTR in April, the United States will charge a $50 fee per net ton of cargo for ships built, operated, or owned by Chinese entities. The fee, set to kick in on Oct. 14, will increase every year until 2028, when it hits $140 per net ton.

In a separate statement on Oct. 10, China’s commerce ministry reiterated the regime’s opposition to U.S. port fees plans, saying such measures harmed its companies’ interests.

Escalation in US-China Tension

Tensions between the world’s two largest economies escalated this week after the Chinese regime rolled out a series of trade measures targeting the United States.
On Oct. 9, the regime’s commerce ministry issued six notices that expanded restrictions on the export of rare earth and other materials critical to semiconductor manufacturing and military equipment. On the same day, nearly a dozen defense companies operating in the United States were added to China’s trade blacklist.
On Oct. 10, the regime’s market regulator launched an investigation into U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm over the company’s acquisition of Israeli vehicle chipmaker Autotalks, a deal unveiled four months ago.
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Additionally, China, the world’s largest soybean buyer, hasn’t made any purchase from the United States since May, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. President Donald Trump has said the communist regime’s refusal to buy American soybeans is simply a negotiating tactic.
In a social media post on Oct. 10, Trump said China is becoming “extraordinarily aggressive” on trade matters. The president indicated that he would like to cancel a planned meeting with Xi Jinping, the Chinese communist regime leader, at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in South Korea.

“I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

He said in another social media post that starting from Nov. 1, the United States will impose an extra 100 percent tariff on China and other export controls “on any and all critical software.”

Bill Pan and Reuters contributed to this report.
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