The US government last week announced plans to implement additional fees for Chinese owned or built cargo vessels arriving at its ports, which are set to be introduced from October.

Unique Forwarding understands that the fees will be a price per net tonnage unloaded or loaded, which will be charged to the ship owner and which will rise gradually through to 2028.

The fees are targeting the trend to use Chinese shipyards for building new container ships, with over 50% of global new build orders being secured by China in the past couple of years.

Fees for Chinese owned carriers (including Hong Kong and Macau) will be:
From October 2025: $50.00 per net tonne.
From April 2028: $140.00 per net tonne.

Fees for Ships built in China (including Hong Kong and Macau) will be:
From October 2025: $18.00 per tonne, minimum $120.00 per container
From April 2028: $33.00 per tonne, minimum $250.00 per container.

Car carriers have also been targeted, where the incoming fees are not just for Chinese built ships, they apply to all foreign built ships.

Fees For Foreign Built Car Carriers will be:
From October 2025: A fee of $150 per Car Equivalent Unit (CEU) will be applied.

The announcement of these fees has been met with widespread disapproval, with global governments, carriers, businesses, trade bodies and supply chain stakeholders worldwide amongst those concerned about the implications.

The team at Unique Forwarding are monitoring developments closely and will update accordingly.