"Sky-high Port Entry Fee" is coming! Sellers may face a crisis of skyrocketing costs

Following the imposition of tariffs, the Trump administration has struck again with a heavy blow - it plans to impose additional fees on Chinese ships . This policy will undoubtedly add a lot of uncertainty to global trade.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) office has proposed charging Chinese-made vessels entering U.S. ports up to $1.5 million as part of its investigation into China’s growing “dominance” of the global shipbuilding, maritime and logistics sectors.

According to the proposal, the United States plans to add new shipping service charges as follows:

For Chinese shipping operators:

When Chinese ships enter U.S. ports, the United States provides international shipping services with the following two charging methods: a maximum of US$1 million per ship per entry into a U.S. port; or US$1,000 per net ton based on the net tonnage of the ship.

For maritime operators with fleets of vessels built in China:

The charges are based on the proportion of Chinese-built ships in the operator’s fleet: a maximum of USD 1.5 million (over 50%), USD 750,000 (25%-50%) or USD 500,000 (0%-25%) per voyage.

For shipping operators with expected orders for Chinese ships:

If the operator orders or expects to deliver 50% or more of the ships from Chinese shipyards in the next 24 months, the fee for each voyage will be US$1 million; 25%-50% will be US$750,000; and 0%-25% will be US$500,000.

In addition, if an operator's total order book over the next 24 months contains 25% or more ships from Chinese shipyards, the operator will be charged a fee of up to $1 million each time a ship enters a U.S. port.

Exemptions from charges for ocean freight services using U.S.-built vessels:

Additional charges for ocean transportation services by an operator covered by this section may be refunded up to $1 million each time the operator provides international ocean transportation services on a U.S.-built vessel, each time the vessel enters a U.S. port.

It is worth noting that the United States' proposed ocean shipping service fee policy is still in the proposal stage and has not yet entered the formal implementation process.

However, according to the latest data from Alphaliner, among the fleets of the world's top ten container shipping companies, 32% are built in China. If the policy is finally implemented, the relevant shipping companies will have to pay a special fee of no less than US$500,000 for each Chinese-built ship entering a US port.

At the same time, a logistics industry insider pointed out that "as logistics costs rise, inspection fees are likely to rise as well. The inspection fee for a container may soar from $1,000 to $5,000 to $6,000."

Therefore , from the perspective of the cost transmission mechanism, shipping companies are very likely to pass on the additional costs to customers. For cross-border sellers, this is tantamount to "adding insult to injury", especially under the existing tariff pressure, the increase in freight rates may make it difficult for them to make decisions on prices. In particular, those sellers who do not have much room for price fluctuations will have to think about how to adjust their pricing strategies to avoid excessive transportation costs swallowing up profits.

In addition, this cost-shifting mechanism may also cause turmoil in the global supply chain : in order to avoid high fees, shipping companies may be forced to adjust routes to reduce the frequency of use of Chinese-built ships. The decline in shipping capacity will inevitably lead to an imbalance between supply and demand, which will in turn push up freight rates. This chain reaction is like the collapse of dominoes, affecting not only the shipping companies themselves, but also the global logistics system, affecting commodity prices, transportation timeliness, and even the liquidity of global trade. [How do short videos + live streaming drive growth? The "2024 TikTok Shop Annual Research Report" will help you unlock the traffic password. Follow the official account and reply to the keyword "TikTok Shop" to get it]

In fact, as early as December 2024, the two major parties in the United States jointly formulated the American Shipbuilding and Port Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security Act (SHIPS), which directly targeted the lifeline of China's shipping.

Under the bill, all imported goods shipped to the United States by Chinese-owned or Chinese-flagged ships will be subject to new tariffs. The bill also stipulates that at least 10% of containerized goods imported from China must be transported by ships built in the United States, with American crews and flying the U.S. flag, and this proportion will increase each year.

Industry insiders pointed out at the time that if this bill was implemented, it would bring greater cost pressure to exporters in China and other Asian countries. Some shipping companies even urgently launched business impact assessments to try to estimate the scope of the policy shockwaves.

Nowadays, with the continuous pressure of relevant policies and the double squeeze of market supply and demand imbalance, cross-border sellers are facing an unprecedented logistics cost crisis. [How do short videos + live streaming drive growth? The "2024 TikTok Shop Annual Research Report" will help you unlock the traffic password. Follow the official account and reply to the keyword "TikTok Shop" to get it]

In order to maintain their position in this possible trade change, industry experts have proposed several countermeasures:

Of course, "a good iron must be forged with its own strength". In the face of an increasingly severe global trade environment, the speed with which an enterprise can respond will directly determine its survival space. In the future, those who can keep up with the situation will be able to gain a glimmer of hope in the fierce competition; while those who fail to adjust their strategies and adapt to changes in time are likely to gradually fall behind in the changing situation and eventually be eliminated by the torrent of the market.

Do you expect this proposal to be implemented? Welcome to discuss in the comments section~