Chinese Shipping In The Crosshairs

Feb 28th, 2025:Implications of the proposed fees on the tanker market According to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), China is targeting the maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors for dominance. The USTR concluded this at the tail end of the Biden Administration in response to a petition filed by five U.S. labor unions back in March 2024. Under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the USTR is allowed to “address unreasonable or discriminatory acts, policies or practices that burden or restrict U.S. commerce”. Now, the new Trump Administration has announced the actions it proposes to take. It is considering imposing additional fees on Chinese shipping companies, companies that use Chinese ships and/or companies that have ships on order in China each time one of their vessels enters a U.S. port. The USTR also proposed a requirement that a percentage of U.S. exports are transported on U.S.-flagged ships, a subset of which would also need to be U.S. built. At this point, this is only a proposal (the USTR is asking for public comments by 24 March 2025) and important details with respect to implementation & enforcement are still unclear. However, in this Tanker Opinion, we will try to determine how implementation of proposals as they are currently written, may impact the crude oil and product tanker market. Please fill in below form to continue read.