Huge fees may be coming to ships built in China each time they arrive at a U.S. port. During a hearing in Washington on Monday, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) heard comments on its January 2025 study that laid out China’s strategy to achieve dominance in the global maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors — a strategy that has worked spectacularly. Since 1999, China’s share of the global shipbuilding market has soared from 5% to 50%. The USTR argues that China’s growing control over the maritime sector poses serious economic and national security risks to the U.S., making immediate action necessary. Proposed measures include imposing port fees from $1 million to $1.5 million per port entry. If implemented, the fees would substantially increase costs for exports and imports using Chinese ships. That could have incredibly disruptive impacts on most oceangoing transport, and energy products are no exception — unless they get an exception! In today’s RBN blog, we explore the background of the USTR’s China port-fee proposal and what it could mean for global energy logistics.
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The potential action against Chinese shipbuilding originated with the Biden administration and — unusual in today’s political climate — has been adopted and carried forward by the Trump administration. Here’s the backstory. In early 2024, the United Steelworkers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Ship Builders (IBB) the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), and the Maritime Trades Department (MTD) of the AFL–CIO requested that the USTR launch an investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the U.S. to penalize foreign countries that engage in acts that are “unjustifiable,” “unreasonable,” or burden U.S. commerce. Biden’s Trade Representative, Katherine Tai, launched the probe in April 2024.
On January 16 — four days before President Trump’s inauguration — the Trade Representative’s office issued the “Report on China’s Targeting of the Maritime, Logistics and Shipbuilding Sectors for Dominance.” The 170-page report is an exhaustive analysis of China’s dominance over shipping and documents how the U.S. has ceded almost all shipbuilding to other countries. As shown in Figure 1 below, the U.S. commercial shipbuilding sector has fallen to less than five deep-draft vessels a year from 78 in 2009 (orange bars and right axis), while China now builds 1,700 ships annually. U.S. compensated gross tonnage (CGT; blue area and left axis) has dropped from 400,000 to 25,000 annually. These numbers include everything from cruise ships and dry bulk to container carriers and oil tankers.
U.S. Vessel Deliveries, 1998-2024
Figure 1. U.S. Vessel Deliveries, 1998-2024. Source: Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
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About the song
“Sail Away” was written by Randy Newman and appears as the first song on side one of his third studio album of the same name. The song is about escaping oppression to a better place. Music writer Greil Marcus wrote that the song “is like a vision of heaven superimposed on hell.” The song has been covered by artists such as Bobby Darin, Ray Charles, Etta James and Frankie Miller. Personnel on the record were: Randy Newman (vocals, piano), Emil Newman (conductor), and Louis Kaufman (concertmaster).
The album, Sail Away, was recorded at Amigo in North Hollywood, and Western and Poppi studios in Los Angeles between 1971 and 1972, with Lenny Waronker and Russ Titelman producing. Released in May 1972, it went to #163 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. Joe Cocker, Alan Price and Tom Jones had hit records with Newman songs off this LP. Brian Wilson has stated that this album profoundly affected him at the time of its release.
Randy Newman is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, composer, conductor and orchestrator. He is known for his clever Americana songs and various film scores. Newman began his songwriting career in Los Angeles at the age of 17, penning hits for artists such as Cilla Black, Gene Pitney, and the Fleetwoods. Newman has released 11 studio albums, 23 soundtrack albums, two live albums, five compilation albums, and 12 singles. He has done 29 film scores and written four musicals. He has won two Academy Awards, three Emmy Awards, and seven Grammy Awards. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He continues to write and compose film scores.
