The Trump administration has unveiled its shipping costs for shipping costs to Chinese ships while trying to relaunch shipbuilding in the United States and challenge industry by China.
The announcement of the American commercial representative (USTR) is less serious than a drift plan in February to hit Chinese ships with costs up to 1.5 million dollars (1.1 million pounds sterling) for each American port they visit.
He said costs would begin to be charged in 180 days and increased in the years to come.
It was feared that the measures would disrupt world trade more in the midst of the pricing policies of US President Donald Trump.
“China has largely achieved its domination objectives, seriously disadvantaging American companies, workers and the US economy,” the USTR said in a statement.
The costs of owners of Chinese ships and ships built in China will be based on the weight of their cargo, the number of containers they carry or the number of vehicles on board.
For affected bulk ships, the costs will be based on the weight of their cargo, while the costs for containers will depend on the number of containers that a ship carries.
Under measures, owners of Chinese ships and operators will initially be billed $ 50 per tonne of freight, increasing by $ 30 per tonne for the next three years.
The fees on ships built in Chinese will start at $ 18 per tonne or $ 120 per container and will also increase over the next three years.
Ships not built in the United States carrying cars will be billed $ 150 per vehicle.
The fees will be applied once by travel to the ships affected and not more than five times a year.
The USTR has also decided not to impose fees according to the number of ships built in Chinese in a fleet or on the basis of the potential orders of Chinese ships, as it had originally proposed.
Empty ships arriving at American ports to transport bulk exports such as coal or cereals are exempt.
The ships that move goods between American ports as well as ports in the Caribbean islands and American territories are also exempt from rules, as are American and Canadian ships that call in the ports of the Great Lakes.
The USTR said that a second phase of shares will start in three years to promote American ships carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG). These restrictions will gradually increase over the next 22 years.
The announcement came while world trade is already disrupted by Trump’s sales prices, experts said.
The cargoes originally intended for ports in the United States from China are rather redirected to European ports, said a commercial group.
Companies have warned that this would increase the prices of American consumers.
Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has imposed taxes up to 145% on imports from China. Other countries face an American rate of 10% until July.
Its administration said this week that when new prices are added to those existing, samples from certain Chinese products could reach 245%.
These prices have caused “significant accumulations” of ships, in particular in the European Union, but also a “important congestion” in British ports, according to Marco Forgone, general manager of the Charterd Institute of Export & International Trade.
More containers arrive in the United Kingdom, he said.
“We have seen a lot of diversion of ships from China, which had to go to the United States, diverting and coming to the United Kingdom and the EU.”
In the first three months of 2025, Chinese imports in the United Kingdom increased by around 15% and in the EU by around 12%.
“This is a direct impact of what President Trump does,” he said, adding that uncertainty and increased disruption increase consumers’ prices.
Sanne Manders, president of the Flexport logistics company, said that prices and strikes in ports in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium in the first three months of the year had “obstructed” ports.
Congestion in the United Kingdom “is particularly serious in Felixstowe”, while in continental Europe, Rotterdam and Barcelona are “also quite serious”.
“I believe that if more cargo will be transported to Europe, finding new buyers who will increase volumes, this could lead to greater congestion,” he said-although the terminals are open for more hours a day in summer due to better times.
He said that sender sought new markets, but that there can also be a wave of goods in the United States to try to take advantage of this 90-day window for the goods of certain countries.
He said in the United States, consumers would pay prices, but European consumers would not see “a lot of impact”.
Companies would also likely start rethinking their supply chains, he said.
