Tit-for-tat US, China port fees disrupt cargo flows; rates up

New fees imposed on port calls by China and the US are reducing the number of cargo vessels available for moving goods and threatening to increase consumer costs in both countries. Ship operators have taken China-linked ships out of US trade lanes to avoid new port fees that started on October 14. They are also moving US-linked ships out of China schedules to avert retaliatory fees that went into effect the same day. Those workarounds are disrupting transits and squeezing ship cargo space, even as operators remain uncertain about how China assigns US ownership or control in its fee assessment. Stamatis Tsantanis, CEO of dry bulk shipper Seanergy Maritime Holdings, said that the list of available ships to call China’s ports is definitely smaller than before, across all shipping markets. Eventually, all the costs will fall on the actual consumer, and that’s going to make things way more expensive, said a report.

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