Us-china trade war 2025: The US Trump administration announced the implementation of new port fees on Chinese ships, allowing trade tension between the US and China to reach the peak once again. As per the plan released by the US Trade Representative (USTR), this tax will be applicable to ships with Chinese Honorship, Operations or Building.
According to this scheme, the tax will be increased in a phased manner by April 14, 2025, and by April 2028. Initially this tax will be $ 50 per ton, which will increase to $ 140 per ton. Additionally, the container tax per container can increase from $ 120 to $ 250.
China's Foreign Ministry criticized
According to SCMP, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Gian criticized the decision, saying that this step can be an obstruction in global supply chain, increase in costs and inflation on American consumers. He said that this policy would not be successful in reviving the shipbuilding industry in America. According to the USTR plan, every ship will be charged a maximum of five times a year. Tax will be charged at the port where the ship first enters the US to prevent small ports from bypassing.
China's leading shipping company
Experts believe that this policy will have the most impact on China's major shipping companies like COSCO and OOCL. According to Larsen, CEO of Shipping Consultancy Vespuchi Maritime, Ocean Alliance, including COSCO, OOCL, Evergreen and CMA CGM. They may require changes in their network. They estimate that some large Chinese container can exceed $ 10 million per port call tax for vessels. At the same time, this tax can be up to $ 4 million per port call on Chinese-made ships.
Rebate on US ship order
The US is also preparing to impose tax on vehicles and foreign manufactured vehicles transporters running with the help of LNG. Foreign automobile carriers will have to pay a tax of $ 150 per unit. This exemption will be applicable after the expiry period. However, USTR has also given relief in some cases. Such as small ships (less than 4,000 teu) and short distance trips (less than 2,000 knots) are exempted. Apart from this, if an operator orders the same sized American ship, then he can get a tax exemption on the Chinese ship.
USTR proposes 100 percent tariff
The USTR has also proposed a tariff of up to 100% on ship-to-crane and cargo handling equipment, which are imported from China. This is a step taken to make America's maritime industry self -sufficient. Global concerns about the impact of this new policy are increasing. Clarkson Research has revised its global shipbuilding forecast for 2025 with a decline of 30%. Investors have now become cautious due to uncertainty in American trade policies.
WTO warns
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has warned that the global goods trade may fall by 0.2% in 2025 due to rising tariffs and policy uncertainty, which is much lower than the earlier estimated 2.7% increase. Exports in North America have been estimated by 12.6% and 9.6% decline in imports.
USTR released shocking report
The USTR has said in its report that the US has only 0.1% stake in global ship manufacturing, while China alone builds more ships than the rest of the world. According to 2024 data, China obtained 70% of new ship -making orders, while South Korea has 17% and Japan 5%.
