US Port Operators, Shippers Call on Trump to Scuttle Proposed China Port Fees

U.S. shippers argue the fees would disproportionately harm American-owned carriers serving short-sea routes between domestic ports.

The U.S. flag flies over a container ship unloading cargo from Asia at the Port of Long Beach in California on Aug. 1, 2019. Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s April 9 Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance executive actions package is drawing praise from the United States’ $2.1 trillion ports industry, but also generating anxiety over his proposed plan to impose “port fees” of up to $3.5 million on “China-linked” commercial carriers as soon as April 17.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative proposed levying multimillion-dollar fees in February after an investigation determined China’s maritime industry violates the 1974 Trade Act with “acts, policies, and practices that burden or restrict U.S. commerce.”

Under the tentative proposal, ships operated by Chinese companies would be assessed $1 million, ships built in China would pay $1.5 million per port call, and shipping lines with more than 50 percent of new vessels being built in China would incur a $1 million fee for every port visit.

The proposal was roundly ripped during March 24-25 hearings at the International Trade Commission in Washington by shipping and ports representatives from World Direct Shipping, Tropical Shipping, the Chamber of Shipping of America, Unitcargo Container Line, Seaboard Marine, Linea Peninsular Inc., North Florida Shipping, and Bermuda Container Line.

Rather than hurt Chinese companies, U.S. shippers argued, the fees would disproportionately harm American-owned carriers serving short-sea routes between domestic ports. They lobbied for exemptions for U.S. companies that use Chinese-built ships, citing a lack of viable alternatives among global freight shippers.

The American Association of Port Authorities argues the China port fees plan would just distort market efficiencies, incur supply chain disruptions, and encourage ships to crowd larger ports while smaller marine centers languish.

That big port/small port impact was echoed by Massachusetts Port Authority CEO Rich Davey, who told an April 9 Associated Industries of Massachusetts gathering that if port fees are imposed, he could see “a number of ships deciding to skip us and probably go right to New York.”

Critics got good news and bad news when U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told the Senate Finance Committee on April 8 that “not all [port fees] are going to be implemented” before confirming that indeed, the president is going to slap “port fees” on China-flagged and China-made ships.

Numerous fee schedules and different types of levies are being considered, he said, including adjustable fees based on the number of Chinese-built ships in a company’s fleet or a charge based on the tonnage of unloaded vessels.

“This could have been a miscommunication issue; some people thought that all of those measures would be imposed,” Greer said. “Now we consider which of those measures is most appropriate” by April 17 when he must forward his recommendations to the White House.

The Maritime Dominance package was one of eight executive orders signed by Trump on April 9, including a measure to modernize the defense industrial base.

According to a December 2024 Defense Department report to Congress, the Chinese navy has more than 370 ships and submarines. The U.S. Navy has 297 ships in its battle fleet.

That edge is only going to grow, the Pentagon surmises, because Chinese shipyards build five ships to every one that U.S. shipyards produce.

“We’re way, way, way behind,” Trump said during the Oval Office signing ceremony. “We used to build a ship a day and now we don’t build a ship a year, practically.”

Shipping containers at a port in Nanjing, in eastern China's Jiangsu province, on April 8, 2025. AFP via Getty Images

Maritime Action Plan

China’s edge in warships is dwarfed by its advantage in commercial ocean-going container ships: 5,500 to just 80 U.S.-flagged global carriers, according to the White House.

American shipbuilders produced just one-fifth of 1 percent of the commercial ships plying the seas while nearly three-fourths were manufactured in China shipyards, the White House said.

According to analyst Alphaliner, 70 percent of new cargo liners on order are being built in China and seven of the top 10 shipyards in producing ocean-going ships are in China.

None of the containers used on cargo ships are made in the United States, while China manufactures 96 percent of the world’s supply. The top three Chinese builders alone produce 83 percent of all new ocean shipping boxes, according to American Shipper.

China builds 80 percent of ship-to-shore cranes used in U.S. ports. None are built domestically.

The list goes on and on. Trump’s 24-section, 3,500-word Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance executive actions package attempts to address them one-by-one.

“The commercial shipbuilding capacity and maritime workforce of the United States has been weakened by decades of government neglect,” it states.

Within 30 days, the departments of Transportation, Defense, and Homeland Security must identify opportunities for deregulation. In 45 days, a comprehensive shipbuilding plan must be presented to the president. In 90 days, Trump expects “a detailed report on maritime industry needs” and the Defense Department must develop an Arctic security strategy.

Key components are establishing a comprehensive Maritime Action Plan and a Maritime Security Trust Fund, an incentive program to stimulate private domestic shipbuilding.

The Maritime Action Plan will be “a whole-of-government roadmap to revitalize America’s maritime industrial base, grow the U.S.-flagged commercial fleet, and strengthen maritime national security. It must be presented to the president within 210 days.

The Maritime Security Trust Fund would finance infrastructure upgrades, workforce development, and fleet expansion projects with revenues from tariffs, port fees, and Harbor Maintenance Fees.

The fund will support a Shipbuilding Financial Incentives Program to encourage shipbuilders from allied nations to invest in U.S. yards.

That trend is already manifesting with South Korea’s Hanwha purchasing the Philly Shipyard and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries—which has built 2,300 ships this century—signing partnership deals with two major U.S. defense contractors, including Huntington Ingalls Industries, America’s largest military shipbuilder.

The president’s executive package aims to prevent the circumvention of Harbor Maintenance Fees through Canada or Mexico by implementing a 10-percent service fee on foreign cargo that enters through Canadian or Mexican borders.

It would create and implement Maritime Prosperity Zones—similar to the Opportunity Zones established during Trump’s first term—and expand mariner education through investment in the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and credentialing reform.

A truck passes containers at the Port of Los Angeles after new tariffs on Chinese imports were imposed by President Trump, in Long Beach, Calif., on Sept. 1, 2019. Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images

Stalled SHIPS Act

Some components of the president’s executive package are similar to initiatives included in a bipartisan bill introduced in December, the proposed Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security (SHIPS) for America Act.

The bill, cosponsored in the Senate by Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) and in the House by Reps. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) and Trent Kelly (R-Miss.), would establish a White House maritime security advisor to lead an interagency Maritime Security Board to coordinate “whole-of-government strategic decisions” in implementing “national maritime strategy.”

It also establishes a Maritime Security Trust Fund financed by a 25-percent tax credit for shipyard investments, a U.S. Center for Maritime Innovation, a Maritime and Shipbuilding Recruiting Campaign, and a Merchant Marine Career Retention Program.

The proposed bill, which is likely to be reintroduced this year, creates a Strategic Commercial Fleet Program to expand the U.S.-flag international fleet by 250 ships within 10 years.

It also requires government-funded cargo to move aboard U.S.-flag vessels and that a portion of commercial goods imported from China move aboard U.S.-flag vessels by 2029.

Whether by executive order or through legislation, federal momentum in port improvements and disinterring the nation’s merchant marine drew applause from maritime industry leaders.

“The establishment of a strategic commercial fleet program, along with new tax credits, grants, and strategic investments, will provide a powerful environment to rebuild our shipbuilding capacity and build the fleet of the future,” Shipbuilders Council of America President Matthew Paxton said in a statement.

Florida-based Eastern Shipbuilding Group called Trump’s actions “historic steps to revitalize American shipbuilding.”

“As a multi-generation, American-owned shipyard, we know firsthand how important our industry is to America’s economic prosperity and security,’ Eastern Shipbuilding said in a statement. “With the world’s most skilled craftsmen, we can strengthen our industrial capacity and uphold our dominance on the seas. Let’s get it done!”

The American Maritime Partnership and American Association of Port Authorities, among others, also praised the executive package. The association has been clamoring for federal investment in addressing at least $66 billion in port-related infrastructure needs.

The scenario was already complex before being convoluted by the president’s April 5 universal 10-percent tariff on all imported goods, and April 9 retaliatory tariffs on China, which were 145 percent at 7 p.m. EST on April 10. Trump has suspended imposing retaliatory tariffs against more than 70 nations for 90 days, until July 8.

Amid the tariffs—those on again now and, perhaps, those on again later—import cargo at the nation’s major container ports is expected to drop dramatically beginning in May, according to an April 9 Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

Imports during the second half of 2025 are now expected to be down at least 20 percent from 2024, Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said in a statement accompanying the federation’s press release.

“In this environment of complete uncertainty, our forecast for import cargo will be subject to significant adjustments over the coming months,” he said. “At present, we expect to see imports begin to decline by May and that they will drop dramatically during the remainder of the year.”