Posted on October 8, 2025
U.S. port officials have expressed growing frustration with Trump tariff policies, which they say are harming U.S. trade and hurting economic development at their ports and in their states.
The officials spoke at the first day of the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) Annual Convention taking place at Quebec City, Canada on October 6th.
Two Port of Houston officials complained about proposed Trump administration tariffs on Chinese built ship to shore cranes, which will add to costs and undermine Houston port modernization efforts. They complained that their meetings with Trump administration officials had yielded no positive outcome, as the officials did not fully comprehend the potential threat to the Port posed by the tariffs.
AAPA President and CEO Cary Davis responded that AAPA was working hard to oppose the tariffs as well as fees proposed on Chinese built vessels.
In response to a proposed additional 100% tariff on Chinese-manufactured ship-to-shore (STS) by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the Trump Administration, the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) has sounded the alarm.
Davis has argued in written testimony, “Applying a new 100% tariff to Chinese STS cranes will not create a domestic crane manufacturing industry out of thin air. It will only increase costs for public port authorities.”
Davis added that, “Raising tariffs on Chinese cranes another 100% will not magically revitalize an American crane manufacturing industry that has been nonexistent for decades. It will, however, force public port authorities to pay more for the cranes already ordered or that they must order soon to replace aging equipment or outfit new terminals.”
In addition, AAPA urged that the Trump administration and USTR:
- Rescind the forthcoming plan to apply fees that could reach $1 million to all foreign vehicle carriers.
- Further scale back fees on Chinese-built, owned, and operated vessels that will hurt American businesses.
Davis said that AAPA remains committed to pushing back against additional tariffs on STS cranes and all goods that drive up the cost of shipping, increase expenses for ports, and ultimately raise prices for American consumers.
Threats to free trade zones
In an AAPA panel discussion on expanding the use of foreign trade zones (FTZs), Joseph Powell, Director of Economic Development at the Port of Pascagoula (Mississippi) and Caleb McMahon, Director of Economic Development, Port of Port Angeles (Washington) said that establishing foreign trade zones at ports allows companies to utilize the designated free trade area to import raw materials and transform them into a manufactured product that enhances economic development at Port communities so as to defer, reduce, or eliminate U.S. Customs duties on foreign imports.
FTZs provide a competitive advantage for U.S.- based manufacturing and distribution operations. As a result, jobs that might otherwise be located abroad are created and retained in the United States.
In his presentation, Juan Duarte, Executive Vice President for AAPA, said that FTZs are helping ports generate new economic development in South America. He noted that China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) had recently completed the construction of automated cargo-handling operations at the Port of Chancay, Peru. The new Chinese port’s FTZ has attracted 5,000 Chinese companies to establish operations at the Peruvian FTZ so they can sell into the South American market, Duarte noted.
Pascagoula’s Joseph Powell commented that while 5,000 Chinese companies are moving forward with investments in the FTZ in Peru, the United States is falling China and not being assertive with FTZ developments.
To make matters worse, recent executive orders (EOs) by the Trump administration have introduced changes that may significantly impact businesses utilizing foreign trade zones. These changes relate to the imposition of reciprocal tariffs on goods processed within FTZs as part of broader efforts to address trade imbalances and enhance domestic production, according to a 2025 report, “Death of Foreign Trade Zones?” produced by the law firm Clarkhill.
As a result, Powell said processing of FTZ applications “has come to a grinding halt, and due to cutbacks only two people are processing FTZ applications for the entire fifty United States.”
Port Angeles’ s McMahon said that Trump administration tariffs “have impacted everything” and that after the Port of Port Angeles’s successful FTZ application on January 15th, 2025, “it’s gotten pretty complicated.”
Finally, a Minnesota port official noted the damage that new tariffs are having on foreign buyers who cancel orders for U.S. agricultural exports in response. She noted that U.S. soybean farmers have suffered from losing foreign markets and sales as a result of the Trump tariffs.
