Trump's fees on Chinese ships will hurt US companies, maritime executives to tell hearing

Lisa Baertlein

Mon, Mar 24, 2025, 7:30 AM 4 min read

By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's program to revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding manufacture is apt to backfire due to the fact that it relies connected projected fees connected China-linked vessels that volition wounded home vessel operators and ports, manufacture executives volition archer the U.S. Trade Representative astatine hearings this week.

In particular, they volition accidental the program would wounded U.S. vessel operators by strictly limiting the vessels they would request to usage to debar the fees, and by concentrating vessel postulation astatine America's biggest ports portion leaving the smaller ones neglected.

"Any connection to enactment U.S. shipbuilding should besides enactment existing U.S.-owned carriers (not harm them)," Edward Gonzalez, CEO of Florida-based Seaboard Marine wrote successful comments up of his expected grounds connected Monday.

At contented is simply a projected complaint of up to $1.5 cardinal for Chinese-built oregon Chinese-flagged vessels docking astatine U.S. ports. The Trump medication says that and different contemplated fees would curb China's increasing commercialized and subject dominance connected the precocious seas and beforehand domestically-built vessels.

In the short-term astatine least, the program is simply a immense occupation for U.S. operators similar Seaboard, the largest U.S.-owned planetary cargo carrier, which has 16 China-built ships successful its fleet of 24 vessels, according to maritime information supplier Alphaliner. Like galore U.S. operators, it relies connected ships made successful China.

According to the USTR, China's stock of the shipbuilding marketplace grew from little than 5% successful 1999 to much than 50% successful 2023.

USTR did not instantly respond to requests for comment.

U.S. vas operators underpin cardinal American industries similar manufacturing, mining and agriculture by transporting goods to and from inland waterways, crossed the Great Lakes and up and down the country's coasts.

"Since determination aren't truly U.S. ships being built, each of america U.S. operators are depending connected the foreign-built marketplace and that foreign-built marketplace is much than 50% Chinese," Fernando Maruri, laminitis of Texas-based King Ocean Gulf Alliance, told Reuters. Its businesses trust connected chartered ships to determination mining, lipid drilling and agriculture-related goods betwixt the U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

To wholly debar the fees, vas operators indispensable beryllium based extracurricular of China, person fleets with less than 25% of ships built successful China, and person nary Chinese shipyard orders oregon deliveries scheduled wrong the adjacent 2 years, according to the USTR proposal. A draught enforcement bid seen by Reuters earlier this period would constrictive that further by levying larboard fees connected each fleets with China-built vessels.