The United States has imposed port charges on Chinese vessels.

The policy of the United States imposing port fees on Chinese ships can be regarded as a heavy blow aimed right at the heart of the global shipping industry.

Starting from October 14, 2025, Chinese shipowners or operators of vessels will be required to pay $50 per ton of cargo. Those who fail to comply will be prohibited from docking at ports!

This policy not only directly impacts China’s shipbuilding industry, but also puts global shipping companies in a “dilemma”! After all, currently China’s completed shipbuilding volume, new orders received, and outstanding orders account for 47.2%, 64.0% and 57.6% of the world’s total respectively. Once the above “port fees” are implemented, all shipping companies will be affected!

What’s even more outrageous is that the United States plans to gradually increase the cost to $140 per ton over the next three years. Meanwhile, even if Chinese-built ships are operated by non-Chinese companies, they still cannot escape the “starting price” of $18 per ton or $120 per container.

Such a high cost has pushed the single-port docking fee of an 8,500 TEU container ship to 21.5 million yuan. If it docks five times a year, the total cost would be nearly 150 million yuan! The Global Shipping Council has called it “illegal”, but the United States seems determined to “kill a thousand enemies while sacrificing eight hundred of its own”.

Policy details and industry impacts

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) has established a dedicated Pay.gov payment platform and is preparing to implement strict measures of “prohibiting the docking, unloading and customs clearance” for ships that fail to pay.

Take a mainstream container ship with a net tonnage of 59,000 tons sailing on the China-US route as an example. After October 14th, the single port call cost reached as high as 2.95 million US dollars. In the next three years, it will double to 41.3 million US dollars.

This “by-ton pricing” model has directly strangled the throat of the global shipping industry – 92% of new ship orders in the Mediterranean shipping sector come from China, and giants like Maersk and CMA CGM also have over 50% of their ships built in China.

In 2024, China’s shipbuilding industry achieved the top position globally for the 15th consecutive year in terms of three key indicators (completed shipbuilding volume, new orders received, and outstanding orders). The market share of each indicator exceeded 50%. This means that almost every two shipping companies would have to bear the cost for this.

What’s even more ironic is that American farmers have also become “victims”. China imports nearly half of the US soybeans each year. But if the freight costs increase by 15% due to the new policy, the profit for each ton of soybeans for farmers will decrease by 30 US dollars.

The small shipping company in the Caribbean, Tropical Shipping, is complaining bitterly: “The Chinese-made small boats we use to transport bananas cost more to stop than the bananas themselves. It’s better to switch to selling coconut water!”

International Response and Alternative Solutions
In response to the “unilateral actions” of the United States, the Korean shipbuilding industry sensed an opportunity. Last year, China secured 70% of the global shipbuilding orders, while Korea accounted for only 17%.
Nowadays, Korean shipbuilding companies such as Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Marine are seizing the opportunity to collaborate with the United States, attempting to share in China’s market share. The Nikkei Asia reported that the South Korean government even pushed its domestic shipbuilding companies to set up factories in the United States to comply with the policy trend of the United States’ “reinvigorating the shipbuilding industry”.
However, the industry generally believes that this “splitting the enemy’s weak points to strengthen one’s own” approach is unlikely to be effective – the scale effect and technological accumulation of China’s shipbuilding industry have formed barriers, and the high port fees will ultimately be passed on to American consumers and the global supply chain.
The “port fees” policy of the United States seems to target China, but in fact, it is an indiscriminate blow. From shipping giants to banana boat owners, from American farmers to end consumers, no one can escape it.
In the short term, China’s shipbuilding industry may face pressure of losing orders; but in the long term, the chaos in the global supply chain and the soaring costs may force the United States to re-examine this “killing eight hundred but harming a thousand” foolish move.
As a shipping industry insider said: “This is not a trade war, but moving a stone to hit oneself – only this time, the stone is a bit expensive.”