The United States Trade Representative’s office said on Friday (Oct 10) it would modify certain maritime-related fees for foreign-built vehicle carriers and liquefied natural gas vessels ahead of port fees on China-linked ships slated to go into effect next week.
USTR said in a statement that fees on operators of foreign-built vehicle carriers would be US$46 per net ton, effective on Oct 14.
That is below a fee of US$150 per net ton originally proposed in April, seen by the industry as prohibitive, but well above an adjusted fee of US$14 per net ton proposed on Jun 12.
USTR is also eliminating, retroactive to Apr 17, a provision permitting the suspension of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export licenses if certain restrictions on the use of foreign-built vessels were not met.
And it added a carve-out from fees for certain ethane and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers under long-term charter arrangements.
USTR in February proposed the actions to counter China’s rising maritime dominance and to restore American shipbuilding.
But its original proposals were largely watered down amid pressure from industry, which called them overly punitive and said they would have stifled a US shipbuilding revival.
The move came on the same day as Beijing retaliated against US port fees taking effect on Wednesday for China-built, owned or operated vessels.
China said it would impose levies on calls by ships built or flagged in the United States, or owned by companies with at least 25 per cent of their shares or board seats held by US investment funds.
