Proposed US fees on Chinese ships risk trade chaos globally
Proposed American fees on Chinese ships could disrupt global trade, experts warn in "Bloomberg". In Germany, the transport of 17,600 tonnes of steel pipes to the US has been halted. Americans want Chinese operators to pay from $1 million to over $3 million for each entry of a Chinese ship.
The Donald Trump administration is proposing fees for using Chinese commercial ships, which is intended to combat China's dominance in maritime trade. The issue is that the American proposal could significantly impact global trade, much more than potential tariffs.
As Bloomberg reported, the delay of 17,600 tonnes of steel pipes in Germany symbolizes the chaos of the changes pushed by the Donald Trump administration. Dockers should be preparing a large shipment to the US for a significant project in Louisiana. Due to the proposed changes, the cost of sea transport could increase two to even threefold, causing goods to be stuck in Europe.
The US wants to curb China's power at sea
"Negotiations on the shipping terms for the pipes have been suspended until the issue is resolved," Jose Severin, business development manager at Mercury Group responsible for the deal, told "Bloomberg". In this transatlantic route (Germany-US), as reported, 80 per cent of the ships used by the operator were built in China.
If each shipment by a Chinese operator's ship incurs an additional fee of $1 to $3 million to Americans, costs could escalate into billions of dollars. According to Clarksons Research Services, the fees could cost the US between $40 and $52 billion. However, Joe Kramek of the World Shipping Council warns that such actions could raise prices and threaten jobs. The maritime transport expert described it as hitting trade with a sledgehammer.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) proposal, aimed at limiting China's dominance in shipbuilding, logistics, and maritime industries, comes as Beijing produces over half of the world's cargo ships by tonnage. Together with South Korea and Japan, these Asian giants produce over 90 percent of such vessels, demonstrating the scale of their dominance. The US share in these figures is negligible (0.01 per cent).
Industry representatives, like Jonathan Gold of the National Retail Federation, are concerned that the new fees may cause more harm than the previous tariffs. "They see this as more of a threat than the tariffs, because of the impact it's going to have on the supply chain," said Gold. Many companies fear that the fees could lead to withdrawal from smaller ports, affecting local economies.
