China responds to US port tariffs with retaliatory levies

By Ryan Woo, Lisa Baertlein and Arathy Somasekhar

BEIJING/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – China will impose port fees on U.S.-owned, operated, built or flagged vessels on Tuesday as a countermeasure to U.S. port fees on China-linked vessels starting the same day, China’s Transport Ministry said on Friday.

Later that day, US President Donald Trump said he would raise tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States to 100% and impose export controls on critical software in retaliation for China’s limits on rare earth mineral exports.

There are relatively few U.S.-built or flagged vessels carrying out international trade, but China will catch more ships by slapping levies on companies with 25% or more of their shares or board seats held by U.S.-domiciled investment funds, analysts said.

“This casts a wide net and could affect many public shipping companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges,” said Erik Broekhuizen, manager of marine research and consulting at shipping brokerage firm Poten & Partners.

“The potential impact is significant.”

On Tuesday, ships built in China — or owned or operated by Chinese entities — will also be required to pay a fee at their first port of call in the United States.

SOME SHIPS WILL PAY BOTH CHINA AND US RATES.

US shipping company Matson told customers it is subject to China’s new port fees and has no plans to change its service schedule.

Also likely to be affected are CMA-CGM’s U.S.-based American President Lines and Israel-based Zim, which appears to have more than 25% of its shares owned by U.S. entities, Lars Jensen, CEO of container shipping-focused consultancy Vespucci Maritime, said on LinkedIn.

The tariffs in both China and the United States will apply to 100 vessels owned by Poseidon’s Seaspan and chartered by container lines, Jensen said.

Maersk Line Limited, APL, Zim and Seaspan did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the rates.

Tanker operators are mostly based outside the United States but may be hurt by China’s port tariffs because they are listed in the United States, analysts said.

For example, Scorpio Tankers has the largest and youngest fleet in the industry and is publicly traded in the U.S. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chinese port tariffs “have disrupted the tanker market,” Broekhuizen said in a client note, adding that many vessels that could be affected are already en route to China.

A Vortexa analysis showed that 43 supertankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas, or 10% of the global fleet, will be affected by China’s port fees, said Samantha Hartke, who leads Americas analysis for the energy research firm.

Vessels owned or operated by a Chinese entity will face a flat fee of $50 per net tonnage per trip to Chinese-owned U.S. carrier COSCO, including its OOCL fleet, which is the most exposed with fees of around $2 billion in 2026, analysts said. COSCO had no immediate comment.

CHINA CALLS US FEES DISCRIMINATORY

The US tariffs on ships linked to China, following an investigation by the US Trade Representative, are part of a broader US effort to revive domestic shipbuilding and mitigate China’s maritime and trade power.

“It is clearly discriminatory and seriously harms the legitimate interests of China’s shipping industry, seriously disrupts the stability of the global supply chain and seriously undermines the international economic and trade order,” the Chinese ministry said.

The USTR office did not respond to a request for comment.

Over the past two decades, China has catapulted itself to the number one position in the world of shipbuilding, with its largest shipyards handling both commercial and military projects.

Tariffs announced by China, like those implemented by the United States, “add greater complexity and cost to the global network that keeps goods moving and economies connected, and risk harming its exporters, producers and consumers at a time when global trade is already under pressure,” said Joe Kramek, president and CEO of the World Shipping Association.

RATES RISE IN THREE YEARS

For U.S.-linked vessels docking at Chinese ports starting Tuesday, the rate will be 400 yuan ($56.13) per net metric ton, the Chinese Ministry of Transportation said.

That will increase to 640 yuan ($89.81) from April 17, 2026 and to 880 yuan ($123.52) from April 17, 2027.

For ships calling at Chinese ports on or after April 17, 2028, the charge will be 1,120 yuan ($157.16) per net metric ton.

Tensions between China and the United States have deepened since September, with the two superpowers struggling to move beyond their trade tariff truce, a 90-day pause from August 11 that ends around November 9.

Retaliatory tariffs in this year’s US-China trade war have sharply reduced Chinese imports of US agricultural and energy products.

(1 dollar = 7.1241 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Ryan Woo in Beijing, Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles, additional reporting by Jonathan Saul in London and Arathy Somasekhar and Georgina McCartney in Houston; Editing by Kim Coghill, Kate Mayberry, Rod Nickel)