A West Basin Container Terminal (WBCT) crane unloads a Yang Ming cargo shipping container from a container ship at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California on April 10, 2025. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)
LOS ANGELES: The Trump administration on Thursday shielded domestic exporters and vessel owners servicing the Great Lakes, the Caribbean and U.S. territories from port fees to be levied on China-built vessels designed to revive U.S. shipbuilding and counter China's maritime dominance.
The Federal Register notice posted by the U.S. Trade Representative was watered down from a proposal in February to hit China-built ships with fees of up to $1.5 million per port call, which sent a chill through the global shipping industry.
