US, China agree to pause tit-for-tat port fees
The United States and China have agreed to suspend tit-for-tat shipping levies on vessels linked to the other country for one year, Beijing said Thursday, easing a key point of tension in their broader trade dispute, News.Az reports, citing Bloomberg.
Washington had imposed special fees on China-linked vessels calling at U.S. ports on October 14, amid a wider investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative into China’s maritime and shipbuilding dominance. The U.S. will now pause the measures resulting from that probe for a year, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce.
“Following the US suspension, China will also suspend its countermeasures against the US for one year,” according to the statement, referring to Beijing’s retaliatory fees against American ships that took effect on the same day.
China’s comments come just hours after trade representative Jamieson Greer said the US’s focus is still very much on reviving American shipbuilding. “We’re trying to rebuild shipbuilding,” he said aboard Air Force One, in response to a question on whether President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping had agreed on port fees at their meeting in South Korea.
International shipping has been roiled by retaliatory port charges levied by the US and China on each others’ ships in recent months, a move that pushed up freight costs. The port charges are part of a wider maritime contest between the two countries, as the US tries to compete with China on shipbuilding. Washington has sought the help of allies Japan and South Korea in reviving its industry, signing agreements with Tokyo and Seoul this week for more collaboration.
Beijing, in turn, sanctioned the US units of a major South Korean shipbuilder earlier this month, saying that Hanwha Ocean Co.’s American entities assisted Washington’s investigation of China’s maritime and shipbuilding dominance. China has also said it will look further into US actions on its shipping sector.
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