United States and China levy port fees on each other's vessels
United States and China levy port fees on each other's vessels. The disruption ran from 2025-10-14 (14 October 2025) to 2025-11-10 (10 November 2025), 28 days, affecting Transpacific: Asia to US West Coast, Asia to US East Coast. No measured effect is published for this event; the effect section explains why.
Key facts
- Started
- 2025-10-14 (14 October 2025)
- Ended
- 2025-11-10 (10 November 2025)
- Status
- ended
- Severity
- 1 Minor
- Scope
- global
- Chokepoints
- None
- Ports
- None
- Countries
- United States, China
- Confidence
- high: The start date, the suspension date and the hours of effect come from the United States Trade Representative, the Federal Register and the announcement of China's Ministry of Transport.
- First reported
- 2025-04-23 (23 April 2025)
- Severity basis: No stoppage at any terminal, port or chokepoint is documented; the measures added a charge on qualifying vessel arrivals for 27 days before both sides suspended them.
What happened
From 2025-10-14 (14 October 2025) the Office of the United States Trade Representative applied service fees under Section 301 to arrivals of vessels owned or operated by Chinese entities, of Chinese built vessels and of foreign built vehicle carriers at United States ports. China's Ministry of Transport applied special port fees to vessels linked to the United States from the same day. The United States suspended its action for one year from 00:01 Eastern time on 2025-11-10 (10 November 2025) after the meeting between the two presidents announced on 2025-11-01, and China suspended its fees and a related investigation for one year from 13:01 Beijing time on the same day. Neither measure closed a port or a terminal.
Measured effect
No measured effect is published for this event. This event does not have a dated physical effect on port calls or transits that a daily series could measure.
The measures added a charge on qualifying vessel arrivals rather than stopping cargo, and they name no port or chokepoint where a dated stoppage could be measured.
Timeline
- The United States Trade Representative publishes its notice of action in the Section 301 investigation into China's targeting of the maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, setting fees to apply from 2025-10-14. [s3]
- The Section 301 service fees on Chinese owned or operated vessels, Chinese built vessels and foreign built vehicle carriers begin to apply at United States ports. China's special port fees on vessels linked to the United States begin the same day. [s2] [s3] [s4]
- The United States suspends its action for one year from 00:01 Eastern time. China suspends its special port fees and a related industry investigation for one year from 13:01 Beijing time. [s1] [s2] [s4]
Cause
The United States Trade Representative acted on its Section 301 determination on China's maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors. China's Ministry of Transport described its special port fees as a response to that action, and both sides suspended the measures after the trade talks held in Kuala Lumpur. Attributed by: Office of the United States Trade Representative and the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China. [s1] [s2] [s3] [s4]
Resolution
Corrections
No corrections to this record as of 2026-09-16 (16 September 2026).
Sources
- [s1] Office of the United States Trade Representative, USTR Suspension of Action in Section 301 Investigation of China's Targeting of the Maritime, Logistics, and Shipbuilding Sectors for Dominance, published 2025-11-09 (9 November 2025), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)
- [s2] Federal Register, Notice of Modification of Section 301 Action: China's Targeting of the Maritime, Logistics, and Shipbuilding Sectors for Dominance, published 2025-11-13 (13 November 2025), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)
- [s3] Federal Register, Notice of Action and Proposed Action in Section 301 Investigation of China's Targeting the Maritime, Logistics, and Shipbuilding Sectors for Dominance, Request for Comments, published 2025-04-23 (23 April 2025), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)
- [s4] Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China, 交通运输部关于暂停对美船舶收取船舶特别港务费、暂停开展航运业造船业及相关产业链供应链安全和发展利益受影响情况调查的公告, published 2025-11-10 (10 November 2025), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)