After what has been deemed by both sides to be a successful meeting between President Trump and President Xi of China in South Korea, the U.S. and China have decided to pause the fees being assessed at ports for the next year. The fees started on October 14 and affected ships arriving at both U.S. and Chinese ports.
The U.S. fees assessed on vessels owned, operated or built in China came about following a USTR report on the practices of the Chinese maritime industry and its dominance. The fees were two-tiered, with ships owned or operated by Chinese companies being charged $50/net metric ton when arriving in the U.S. (that's about $2.5 million per vessel for a VLEC or VLGC). Ships built in China but that were owned or operated by non-Chinese companies were to be assessed a lower rate of $18/net metric ton, but vessels arriving in ballast were exempt. An exemption to the first tier of fees, announced shortly after October 14, would have included LPG and ethane vessels that were ordered before April 2025 and were under a long-term, 20-year time charter with a company outside of China.
China had placed retaliatory port fees on U.S. owned, operated or built vessels following the start of the U.S. fees. The fees equated to roughly $56/net metric ton. Those are also being paused.
The meeting also yielded deals on Chinese shipments of rare earth minerals to the U.S. and Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans.
The 10% tariff on Chinese goods will also be paused, and the increase back to 34% will be delayed for a year. That increase was set to take place in early November.
