Latest News

China charges port fees to US-built ships but exempts Chinese-built vessels

China officially began collecting special port charges from U.S. owned, operated, flagged, or built vessels on Tuesday, but state broadcaster CCTV said that Chinese-built vessels would be exempted.

CCTV published details that clarified the exemptions. These included ships constructed by China, ships which are empty and enter Chinese shipyards to be repaired, as well as other ships deemed exempt from payment.

China's Transport Ministry announced last week it would begin charging new port fees to ships with ties to China on the same date as the U.S.

After the announcement, U.S. president Donald Trump announced that he would raise tariffs on Chinese products to 100% on November 1, and implement export controls on software critical in retaliation for China increasing its export limits of rare earth minerals.

CCTV announced that special port fees would be collected either at the first port entry of a single journey or the first five voyages in a year. The annual billing cycle begins on April 17th.

State media warned that failure to pay the fees would result in the ship's import and export processes being halted. (Reporting and editing by Liz Lee, Beijing newsroom and Tom Hogue.

(source: Reuters)