Calling USTR Port Fees Protectionist, China Launches Reciprocal Port Fees

Days before the U.S. is scheduled to start collecting port fees for Chinese-owned, operated, or built ships, China’s Ministry of Transportation announced its own program of “special port fees” for U.S. vessels. An official said China will “resolutely take countermeasures… against these erroneous U.S. practices.”

The fees are largely symbolic based on the small size of the U.S. merchant marine, but they are another tit-for-tat in the battles between China and the United States. The port fees for ships start a month before the latest extension on tariffs is due to expire, and as the two sides continue to negotiate new trade agreements. The Trump administration has announced and then rolled back proposed steep tariffs on all Chinese imports into the U.S. as it seeks to apply pressure for a new trade deal.

The U.S. Trade Representative announced the planned port fees in April 2025 in response to its finding that the Chinese government is attempting to unfairly dominate global shipping. It found that China has taken a series of systematic steps to support its shipbuilding industry in becoming the global leader. China responded, saying that the U.S. was attempting to blame China for long-standing problems and a historic decline in U.S. shipbuilding.

China recently changed its maritime regulations, and today, October 10, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Transport said the U.S. practice “disregards facts,” and that the USTR program “fully exposes its unilateralist and protectionist nature. It is clearly discriminatory.”

Citing the fees that will be imposed by the United States, China said, “This seriously violates the relevant principles of international trade and the China-US Maritime Shipping Agreement, and causes serious damage to maritime trade between China and the United States.”

The response is a fee program starting the same day as the USTR’s port fees, October 14, levied on ships owned or operated by U.S. enterprises. It defines U.S. interest as 25 percent equity in the company. The fees also apply to all ships built in the United States or flying the U.S. flag.

The fees start at 400 RMB per net ton in 2025 and increase annually each April to RMB 1,120 per net ton in 2028. Based on current exchange rates, the fees would start at approximately $56 per ton and rise to $157 over the next three years. The U.S. program, by contrast, is $50 per net ton for Chinese-owned or operated vessels and the higher of $18 per net ton or $120 per container for vessels built in China operated by foreign companies.

China copied the structure of the U.S. program. Both are imposing the fee only at the first port of call and cap the fees at five trips per year. The U.S. has other exemptions, including for vessels arriving in ballast to load U.S. exports.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced at the end of last week that ship operators are responsible for determining which ships are subject to the fees. The USTR was expected to provide additional guidance with an FAQ on the program, but barring a last-minute delay, ships arriving in the U.S. ports as of October 14 need to begin paying the fees. Alphaliner has estimated the major container lines alone could include more than $3 billion in U.S. fees in 2026, although it appears far fewer ships will incur China’s “special port fee.”