USTR proposal for maxi-penalties for the use in national ports of ships not only managed by Chinese companies but also simply built in China
The US Trade Representative (USTR) announced a proposal targeting Chinese-built ships and Chinese shipping companies, imposing port fees that range from $500,000 to a staggering $1.5 million per call..
Unfair trade practices.
The law gives the president broad authority to take action against foreign nations that engage in unfair trade practices. The rule has been widely used in the past to counter Chinese exporters’ practice of selling goods below cost to gain market share.
China’s targeting of the maritime
“The U.S. Trade Representative has determined that China’s targeting of the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors for dominance is unreasonable and burdens or restricts U.S. commerce, and is therefore actionable,” wrote the U.S. Trade Representative.
Extremely burdensome
Trade Representative in a Federal Register notice. Hence the proposal for a set of tariff countermeasures, all extremely burdensome for the recipients, not just Chinese.
From tugs to VLCCs,
In fact, every port call in the United States for any vessel operated by Chinese interests is expected to be subject to either a fee of $1 million per vessel, for any vessel of any size, from tugs to VLCCs, or $1,000 per ton of dead weight.
Each stop at a U.S. port for each ship built in China but operated by non-Chinese interests will be subject to a fee of up to $1 million, depending on the percentage of Chinese-built ships in that operator’s fleet.
Each port cal
Operators with new builds on order in China will face additional fees of up to $1 million per port call. If an operator owns a U.S.-built vessel, each port call of that vessel in the United States could generate a refund of up to $1 million per entry. No specific details were provided for minimum vessel size, cargo volume, voyage distance or length of call at a port.
The proposal also includes
The proposal also includes a mechanism to ensure that an increasing percentage (1% by this year, 3% by 2027, 5% by 2028, and 15% by 2032) of U.S. exports are transported on U.S.-flagged tonnage and a portion (5% by 2032) on U.S.-built vessels.
The U.S. Trade Representative did not specify whether the percentage of goods exported from the United States would be measured by tonnage or dollar value.
Collapse of the commercial shipbuilding industry in Congress
It is noteworthy that US Congress members had raised the issue of the collapse of the commercial shipbuilding industry in the face of the Chinese dragon that is expanding into many of the world’s ports in an attempt to besiege the American gorilla, as 10 members of Congress sent a letter at the time to former President Joe Biden warning of dire consequences if the United States did not review its commercial maritime industry as it represents national security for it, as US production of commercial ships, which produce about 1% of the gross domestic product of ships, stopped in the face of China, which increased by 38.1%, and the US Navy, which owns 177 commercial ships in 2023, while the Chinese Navy in the same year amounted to 1749!
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