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US, China to suspend reciprocal port fees by one year

Beijing announced that the US and China have agreed to pause reciprocal shipping fees on each other’s affiliated vessels for one year, easing tensions in a conflict that has complicated their broader trade war.

The US initiated additional charges on vessels tied to China docking at US ports starting October 14, as part of an ongoing investigation by the Office of the US Trade Representative into China’s dominance in maritime and shipbuilding sectors. According to China’s Ministry of Commerce on Thursday, the US will halt actions stemming from this probe for one year.

“Following the US suspension, China will also suspend its countermeasures against the US for one year,” the statement said, referencing Beijing’s countermeasures imposed on American ships on the same date.

China’s announcement followed remarks by US trade representative Jamieson Greer, who emphasized that reviving domestic shipbuilding remains a priority. “We’re trying to rebuild shipbuilding,” he stated aboard Air Force One when asked if President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping had discussed port fees during their meeting in South Korea.

Recent months have seen global shipping disrupted by mutual port fees imposed by the US and China on one another’s vessels, driving up freight rates. These charges are embedded in a larger competition over maritime capabilities, with the US seeking to challenge China’s shipbuilding edge. Washington has enlisted Japan and South Korea as partners, finalizing cooperation agreements with Tokyo and Seoul this week to bolster its industry.

In retaliation, Beijing imposed sanctions earlier this month on the US subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean Co., claiming the entities supported Washington’s probe into China’s maritime and shipbuilding supremacy. China has also indicated it will continue examining US policies affecting its shipping industry.

Source: Freightwaves

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Shippers place spring orders on concerns over new trade war chapter

The US president has announced that he will impose an additional 100% tariff on goods from China from Nov. 1.

Several US companies have begun pre-ordering goods that were not originally scheduled to be available until spring, due to concerns about the announced 100% increase in US imports of Chinese products.

One of these companies is baby stroller manufacturer Austlen Baby Co, which sells its products through American retail giants such as Target, Walmart, and Amazon.

“We are trying to pre-order spring orders. We have bought as much as we could,” explains Leslie Stiba, CEO of the company, to the news outlet Reuters.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are meeting on Thursday to negotiate a trade agreement, among other things.

According to the Chinese news agency Xinhua, representatives of the two superpowers have already discussed US tariffs on Chinese-built or Chinese-owned ships calling at US ports, along with other issues such as shipbuilding and a possible postponement of the high tariffs between the countries.

On Wednesday, however, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained that negotiations at the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur had eliminated the threat of a 100% tariff on top of the existing tariffs on Chinese goods.

Source: SHIPPINGWATCH

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China’s port fees forcing Gemini to shift out US-flag ships

The Gemini Cooperation diverted two US-flag vessels in a trans-Pacific service away from China due to that country’s retaliatory port fees, with one of the alliance partners warning of a multimillion-dollar hit that carriers face on US-flag ships because of the fees.

Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd advised customers on Tuesday that two US-flag ships in their jointly-operated TP7/WC5 service will no longer call Ningbo. This week’s voyage of Hapag-Lloyd’s Potomac Express will discharge westbound cargo for China in Busan, South Korea, and then be transshipped on another ship. The Denmark-flagged Maersk Luz will carry outbound freight from Ningbo to South Korea’s Kwangyang port, which will then be loaded on the Potomac Express.

Next week’s voyage of the Maersk Kinloss will also discharge westbound China cargo in South Korea for transshipment on an unidentified ship, with eastbound cargo from Ningbo being shipped on a Gemini shuttle ship.

The service switch-up comes as China’s recently unveiled port fees on US-flag ships went into effect on Oct. 14, the same day as similar US port fees took effect on Chinese-built ships and carriers. While China has exempted US-flag ships built in China from the fees, both of Gemini’s affected ships were built in South Korea.

China plans to charge US-flag, non-Chinese vessels $56 per net ton, approximately similar to what the US is levying. Based on their net tonnage, each of the Gemini ships would incur a $2.5 million charge.

Hapag-Lloyd looks to adjust

Stuart Sandlin, Hapag-Lloyd’s North American president, said Wednesday at the Virginia Maritime Association trade conference in Norfolk that the carrier’s five US-flagged, South Korean-built ships would face a total of $125 million in Chinese port fees annually. The US-flag international fleet can also carry commercial cargo to and from China, in addition to any government or military cargo for other Asian countries. Sandlin said Hapag-Lloyd is now looking at how to split up that business to avoid the fees.

“We have a US-flag group, and we have a non-US-flag group, and that makes it a lot more difficult because of the current geopolitical situation,” he said. “We’re working to see how we actually manage through that.”

There are currently 57 ships in the US-flag international fleet, according to Sea-web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S&P Global. Those US-flag ships made 163 calls globally year to date. The US-flag Matson Waikiki, which called Shanghai on Tuesday, faces a $1.7 million fee.

Among US-flag carriers, CMA CGM’s APL division runs the only fleet solely built in China.

Source: JOC

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Maersk considers resuming shipping through the Red Sea in case of long-term peace

The prospect of a ceasefire has also sent Maersk’s shares down to their lowest level since June.

Maersk will consider resuming transport through the Red Sea where attacks on merchant ships since the end of 2023 have forced container shipping companies, among others, to reroute south of Africa.

“We will consider resuming transport through the Red Sea once a long-term and sustainable security solution has been established,” Maersk told Reuters in the wake of the latest news about a peace plan for Gaza.

On Thursday, Israel and Hamas agreed on the first phase of a peace plan for Gaza, orchestrated by US President Donald Trump.

This gives hope that Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthi forces may stop their attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. However, the Houthis have not yet commented on the ceasefire agreement or signaled any change in policy.

“There is a clear link between the security risk in the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the conflict in Gaza, but it is too early to assess how progress in Gaza will affect the situation in the Red Sea,” Maersk says, according to Reuters.

The Bab al-Mandab Strait connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and forms the entrance to the Suez Canal from where ships can take a shortcut to the Mediterranean.

The Houthi movement recently told ShippingWatch that it will only stop its attacks in the Red Sea once the war in Gaza is over.

It states that the group’s “military operations,” which are in response to Israel’s “gruesome massacres” and “unjust siege,” are directly linked to developments in Gaza.

“Therefore, the cessation of these supportive military operations is conditional on a complete and actual cessation of the aggression against Gaza,” the movement’s communications unit HOCC said in a written response to ShippingWatch.

Details please refer to the ShippingWatch news.

Source: SHIPPINGWATCH

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Port of Rotterdam hit by 48-hour strike

In Antwerp, Belgium, port operations are facing delays due to work stoppages by lashers, who secure cargo on ships.

This week, two of Europe’s key ports—Rotterdam, the continent’s largest, and Antwerp-Bruges—are experiencing disruptions from dockworker strikes, according to Reuters and local media reports

In Rotterdam, a strike by lashers from International Lashing Services and Matrans Marine Service began Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. CEST and is set to continue until Friday afternoon, October 10. The action, driven by disputes over a new collective agreement, has halted critical operations. “Without lashers, the whole port grinds to a halt,” said Niek Stam, FNV union chairman, in a statement on October 7.

The Port of Rotterdam acknowledged on Wednesday that the strike will likely impact traffic, though the full extent remains unclear. Hutchison Ports, a terminal operator in Rotterdam, noted potential delays or stoppages in deep-sea and feeder operations, while areas not requiring lashers will function normally.

In Antwerp-Bruges, port pilots have disrupted operations for four days, protesting federal pension reforms, according to port authorities cited by Reuters. The port, which typically handles 60-80 ships daily, managed only 31 on Tuesday, with some ships waiting and others rerouting.

Source: SHIPPINGWATCH

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Strike action piles new bottlenecks on Europe’s two busiest ports

Rotterdam and Antwerp are facing increasing congestion this week as strike action from auxiliary companies significantly disrupts container handling operations at Europe’s two busiest ports.

Flemish pilotage services have only been working during office hours since Monday in a dispute over recent federal pension reforms, severely disrupting vessel arrivals and departures in the Belgian hubs of Antwerp and Zeebrugge.

In Rotterdam, container lashing companies embarked on a two-day strike on Wednesday in a dispute over working conditions and wages. The strike is affecting all major terminals in Rotterdam: APM Terminals Maasvlakte II, Hutchinson Ports Delta II, ECT Delta and Rotterdam World Gateway.

A Maersk advisory said the suspension of services was significantly impacting operations, given that lashing is critical to the safe securing and release of containers onboard vessels.

Kuehne + Nagel echoed Maersk’s concerns in an advisory of its own, warning that in addition to the impact on container vessel handling, the 48-hour strike at Rotterdam will significantly disrupt inland container transport operations.

“These developments place further strain on the port, which was already significantly affected by last weekend’s storm-related closures,” Kuehne + Nagel noted.

The strikes add further pain to the overall Asia-Europe trade lane that continues to present shippers with the worst schedule reliability among the major ocean corridors. On-time performance recorded in September was 23%, according to industry analyst Xeneta.

While the performance is a slight improvement on the 17% reliability seen in August, persistent port congestion across the main North Europe gateways is a factor keeping schedule reliability at dismal levels.

Details please refer to the JOC news.

Source: JOC

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US unveils payment rules for new China vessel fees

Over the weekend, US Customs released additional details about the upcoming increased port fees for vessels linked to China, set to take effect next week.

The announcement clarifies that vessel operators, not US Customs, are responsible for determining fee liability. Vessels without proof of payment may face delays, including being denied unloading, clearance, or operational access until documentation is resolved. Payments must be made through a US Treasury website, and Customs advises operators to complete payments at least three days before a vessel arrives in the US.

The fee structure includes three tiers: Annex 1 imposes $50 per net ton for ships owned or operated by Chinese entities. Annex 2 applies to Chinese-built ships arriving in the US, with operators paying the higher of $18 per net ton or $120 per container discharged. Annex 3 affects all non-US-built vehicle carriers, not limited to Chinese ones, with a fee of $14 per net ton.

Details please refer to the Splash 247 news.

Source: Splash 247