US and China Launch Tit-for-Tat Port Fees, Escalating Global Trade Conflict at Sea

US and China initiate retaliatory port fees on ocean shipping, adding billions in costs and making maritime trade ..

Representative Image via TheIndianHawk Graphics.

The world's two largest economies have opened a costly new front in their ongoing trade war today, as the United States and China simultaneously began imposing retaliatory port fees on ocean shipping, transforming the high seas into a source of economic turmoil.

The punitive measures initiated on Tuesday, October 14, target vessels carrying essential global freight, from crude oil to consumer goods, and mark a significant escalation in the US-China trade war. The fees, which analysts estimate could cost the container carrier segment alone $3.2 billion by 2026, effectively mandate a new maritime tax designed to bolster domestic industries and penalize the global competitor.

What's the matter?

The American fees stem from an investigation initiated under former President Joe Biden’s administration, which concluded that China utilizes unfair practices and policies to dominate the global maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors. This paved the way for the Trump administration to announce plans earlier this year to levy charges on China-linked ships. China responded in kind last week, announcing it would impose its own reciprocal fees on U.S.-linked vessels, effective the same day.

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Athens-based Xclusiv Shipbrokers Inc. warned in a research note that "This tit-for-tat symmetry locks both economies into a spiral of maritime taxation that risks distorting global freight flows." Jefferies analyst Omar Nokta estimated that the new charges would affect a significant portion of the global fleet, including 13% of crude tankers and 11% of container ships.

Specifics of the New Charges

China has begun collecting special charges on U.S.-owned, operated, built, or flagged vessels entering its ports, though Chinese-built ships are exempted from the levies, as detailed by state broadcaster CCTV. These extra port fees are collected at the first port of entry on a single voyage, or for the first five voyages within an annual billing cycle.

On the American side, the fees are expected to hit the China-owned container carrier COSCO particularly hard, with analysts anticipating the firm could shoulder nearly half of the expected $3.2 billion cost in its segment. In early trading on Tuesday, shares in Shanghai-listed COSCO rose more than 2% after the company announced its board approved a plan to buy back up to 1.5 billion yuan ($210.3 million USD) worth of its shares to safeguard shareholder interest, according to Reuters. The shipping giant did not immediately respond to inquiries regarding the potential impact of the fees (as reported by Reuters).

Policy Weaponization and Broader Threats

The maritime fees are not an isolated event but part of a wider trend of policy weaponization.

In a separate escalation last Friday, President Donald Trump threatened additional 100% tariffs on Chinese goods and new export controls on "any and all critical software" by November 1, in reprisal against China's recent move to curb exports of critical minerals.

Simultaneously, administration officials issued a distinct warning to countries at the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization (IMO) meeting this week. Officials warned that nations voting to adopt a plan to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from ocean shipping—a plan publicly supported by China—could face sanctions, port bans, or punitive vessel charges from the U.S.

The escalation signals that "the weaponisation of both trade and environmental policy signals that shipping has moved from being a neutral conduit of global commerce to a direct instrument of statecraft," according to Xclusiv Shipbrokers.

What it means?

This synchronized launch of port fees introduces billions of dollars in new costs to the already strained global supply chain. By targeting the fundamental mechanisms of international commerce—ocean shipping and logistics—the U.S. and China are actively disrupting the stability of global trade flows. The integration of environmental policy and trade tariffs suggests that economic competition between the two powers is expanding into virtually every sector of international governance, making the price of goods and the direction of global environmental regulation increasingly unpredictable.