A sweeping U.S. plan to levy steep port fees on Chinese-built and Chinese-owned ships is reshaping global shipping routes, with many carriers already pulling such vessels from American ports months before the policy takes effect.
According to London-based maritime consultancy Drewry, by October, no more than 5% of container ships calling at U.S. ports will be Chinese-built—down from nearly 20% earlier this year. “We expect the flight of China-built ships to accelerate as we get closer to October,” Drewry Managing Director Philip Damas told Nikkei Asia.
The Trump administration’s measure, set to begin on October 14, will charge Chinese-owned or operated ships $50 per net ton of cargo capacity per port rotation, up to five times a year. The rate is scheduled to soar to $180 by 2028. Vessels merely built in China but operated by non-Chinese carriers will face lower—but still significant—fees starting at $18 per net ton or $120 per container, whichever is higher.
The U.S. Trade Representative argues the fees will help level the playing field against China, whose state-backed policies have propelled it to the top of the global shipbuilding industry, leaving South Korea and Japan trailing. Chinese shipping giant Cosco has condemned the charges as “discriminatory.”
Drewry data shows that between late May and late July, the number of Chinese-built vessels serving the Asia–U.S. West Coast, Asia–U.S. East Coast, and transatlantic trade routes fell by about 8%. Carriers are reportedly weighing alliance-based vessel swaps to replace Chinese-built ships with those from other countries, although industry experts note that such arrangements can be complicated and less efficient.
John McCown, a U.S. shipping veteran and fellow at the Center for Maritime Strategy, told Nikkei Asia the fees would be a “killer” for carriers if absorbed directly, forcing them to raise rates and risk losing competitiveness. He predicted the issue will become part of ongoing U.S.–China tariff negotiations, which are currently under a truce until November 10.
While the policy could still change before its October start date, industry players remain in a race to adapt—swapping vessels, rerouting fleets, and calculating whether the cost of compliance outweighs the risk of losing access to the U.S. market.
