Freight News, Sea


Updated: Trump ship tariffs sound WSC alarm bells

[ April 22, 2025   //   ]

The World Shipping Council (WSC) says it is seriously concerned over the port fee regime announced by the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced on 18 April, saying that they could undermine trade, hurt US producers, and weaken rather than strengthen the nation’s maritime industry.

WSC said that applying fees to vessels already on the water would offer no support for US shipbuilding and, instead, risks harming American exporters — particularly farmers — at a time when global trade is facing significant strain. The backward-looking penalties would disrupt long-term investment planning, introduce new costs and unpredictability for US businesses and consumers.

Structuring fees based on Net Tonnage (NT) would also disproportionately penalize larger, more efficient vessels that deliver essential goods, including components used in US production lines, WSC continued. Nearly half of all liner shipping imports to the US are used directly in domestic production processes. Increasing the cost of these shipments will reverberate through the supply chain, raising production costs for businesses and, ultimately, for consumers. It will also penalize US ports, who have made significant investments to expand their capacity to attract and handle the largest container ships serving the trade.

The measures also included a new and previously unannounced fee based on Car Equivalent Unit (CEU) capacity for almost every vehicle carrier in the world. This arbitrary action, would further slow US  economic growth and raise automobile prices for American consumers, while doing little to encourage US maritime investment.

WSC urged the Administration to reconsider the measures, say that they risked, harming US consumers, manufacturers, and farmers without delivering meaningful progress toward revitalizing the country’s maritime industry.

It pointed out that the country’s shipbuilding sector already faces significant constraints, including a backlog of military orders and ongoing labour shortages while a shortage of trained mariners limits the potential to expand US-flag shipping, even if the regulatory environment was improved.

WSC president and chief executive, Joe Kramek, said: “Revitalizing America’s maritime sector is an important and widely shared goal — one that requires a long-term, legislative and industrial strategy. We welcomed the vision outlined in the President’s Executive Order, which proposes targeted initiatives to strengthen US shipbuilding, ports, and supply chain resilience. Unfortunately, the fee regime announced by USTR is a step in the wrong direction as it will raise prices for consumers, weaken US trade and do little to revitalize the US maritime industry.”

Saleem Khan, chief data and analytics officer at analysts Pole Star Global said that there were 14,295 port calls made by Chinese vessels to 252 US ports in 2024, representing 18% of all port calls. If the proposed fees are enacted and these same Chinese vessels were to visit US ports again this year, the proposed port fees for 2025 could amount to about $17 billion. If they continue for a full year the number jumps to $23 billion.

Such an increase in port fees would be a significant shift in the economics of global trade. Houston alone saw 768 Chinese vessels visit its port 1,418 times, more than double the second-most visited US port by Chinese ships, Port Everglades. 

The other most frequently visited US ports by Chinese vessels include Savannah, Long Beach, and Mobile.

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