A coalition of retailers, manufacturers, logistics providers and freight businesses are urging the Trump administration to extend its suspension of planned fees against Chinese-built vessels calling American ports.
The U.S. Trade Representative had initially implemented fees of up to $120 per container against ships with ties to China at U.S. ports in October 2025, before suspending the fees for a year on November 10, 2025. The policy was first proposed by the Trump administration over national security concerns stemming from China's status as the world's biggest shipbuilder, and as a means to provide a boost to a long-dormant U.S. commercial shipbuilding sector.
In a September 23 letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, a group of maritime transportation stakeholders called for the agency to extend its suspension of the shipping fees, citing how the levies "would add another cost layer to an already strained transportation system."
"U.S. supply chains continue to face significant pressure," the letter reads. "Importers, exporters, retailers, manufacturers, and agricultural producers are contending with elevated transportation costs, shifting carrier capacity, equipment availability challenges, port and inland network constraints, and broader uncertainty in global trade lanes."
The coalition went on to assert that vessel fees are not enough to fully address the country's shipbuilding woes, and that the U.S. should focus more on addressing its own issues with domestic manufacturing capacity, workforce shortages, and a lack of competitive alternatives to China.
"There continues to need to be a dedicated strategy with sustained investments, leadership and a long-term commitment from both the public and private sectors to revitalize the domestic industry, without the need of a port fee on Chinese-built vessels that were purchased years ago," the group posited.
Following a week-long summit in Washington, D.C., the U.S. and China extended a broader trade truce that had been set to expire in November, and took steps to reduce tariffs for up to $60 billion worth of goods. Despite that progress, the two sides remained quiet on the fate of the U.S. shipping fees set to expire on November 9, or China's own retaliatory fees that it similarly paused when the suspension was announced last year.
