China hits back on US port fees with retaliatory levies

By Ryan Woo, Naveen Thukral and Lisa Baertlein

BEIJING/LOS ANGELES, Oct 10 (Reuters) - China will slap port fees on U.S.-owned, operated, built, or flagged vessels on Tuesday as a countermeasure to U.S. port fees on China-linked ships starting the same day, China's transport ministry said on Friday.

The move came shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump said there is no reason to meet with China's President Xi Jinping in two weeks in South Korea as planned, adding on social media that the U.S. is calculating a massive increase in tariffs on imports from China. Trump said China has been sending letters to countries saying it planned to impose export controls on rare earths production.

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

'QUITE AN IMPACT'

U.S.-based shipping company Matson MATX.N told customers on Friday it is subject to the new China port fees and has no plans to change its service schedule.

Also likely affected are CMA-CGM's U.S.-based American President Lines and Israel-based Zim 2SV.F, which appears to have more than 25% of its shares owned by U.S. entities, Lars Jensen, CEO of consultancy Vespucci Maritime, said on LinkedIn.

The China fees also could apply to vessels owned by Poseidon's Seaspan, said Jensen, an expert on container shipping.

"This could be quite an impact as it means that the more than 100 vessels owned by Seaspan, and chartered by a variety of major container lines, would now be subject to fees in China in addition to the fees in the U.S. for their Chinese-built vessels," Jensen said.

Also starting on Tuesday, ships built in China - or operated or owned by Chinese entities - will need to pay a fee at their first port of call in the United States.

Vessels owned or operated by a Chinese entity will face a flat fee of $50 per net tonnage per voyage to the U.S. China-owned carrier COSCO 601919.SS, including its OOCL fleet, is the most exposed with fees of around $2 billion in 2026, analysts said.

Maersk Line Limited MAERSKb.CO, APL, Zim, Seaspan, and COSCO did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the fees.

CHINA CALLS U.S. FEES DISCRIMINATORY

The U.S. fees on China-linked vessels, following a probe by the U.S. Trade Representative, are part of a broader U.S. effort to revive domestic shipbuilding and blunt China's naval and commercial shipping power.

"It is clearly discriminatory and severely damages 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's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a separate statement released later on Friday, Beijing's commerce ministry said the Chinese countermeasures were in "justified" self-defence aimed at safeguarding fairness in the global shipping and shipbuilding markets.

Over the past two decades, China has catapulted itself to the No. 1 position in the shipbuilding world, with its biggest shipyards handling both commercial and military projects.

Last year, Chinese shipyards built more than 1,000 commercial vessels, while the U.S. constructed fewer than 10, according to military and industry analysts.

The Chinese fees on U.S. vessels could hurt the U.S. less than the U.S. fees might harm the legion of Chinese ships.

The fees announced by China, like those put in place by the U.S., "add further complexity and cost to the global network that keeps goods moving and economies connected, and risk harming their 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 OVER THREE YEARS

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

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

For vessels calling at Chinese ports from 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 the U.S.-China trade war this year have sharply curtailed Chinese imports of U.S. agriculture and energy products.

($1 = 7.1241 Chinese yuan renminbi)