
Posted on October 20, 2025
China will not charge U.S. cargo ships that were built in Chinese shipyards to dock in its ports, according to Reuters.
The U.S. announced plans to charge Chinese-built and -flagged vessels docking in U.S. ports in April, and China responded in early October with reciprocal fees.
The announcement of the Chinese retaliatory fees prompted another threat of escalation from U.S. President Donald Trump, who proposed 100 percent tariffs on Chinese imports starting on 1 November. On 15 October, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the two nations would be negotiating “in the coming weeks.”
Though both countries began charging each other port fees on 14 October, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reportedly said that U.S.-flagged and -owned ships would not be subject to fees if they were built by Chinese shipyards.
The U.S. plan charges Chinese-owned and -operated vessels at a rate of USD 50 (EUR 42) per net tonnage, while the Chinese plan charges RMB 400 (USD 56, EUR 48).
Under the latter plan, U.S.-built ships which were seeking repairs in Chinese shipyards would also not be charged, Reuters reported.
The policies of both nations stipulate that vessels can only be charged at the first port of call they make on a single voyage, and China said that the reciprocal fees would only be collected on a vessel’s first five voyages to China per year.
Ships have already started to incur costs under the plans, as both FreightWaves and The Maritime Executive have reported that a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.-built cargo ship called the Manukai, which is owned by Matson, was charged more than USD 600,000 (EUR 514,032) to dock at Ningbo on 14 October.
The Maritime Executive also reported a number of route changes and transhipment plans for Asia-bound cargo.
It said that shipping firm Maersk had issued a customer advisory announcing upcoming route changes for U.S.-flagged vessels on Asian routes and that Hapag-Lloyd had also diverted a vessel, the Potomac Express, which skipped a port of call in Ningbo, China, and instead proceeded to Busan, South Korea. Maersk reportedly plans to similarly discharge Chinese-bound cargo in South Korea and use its transportation networks to move products from there.