US proposes extending suspension of China maritime port fees to January 2027

Shipper groups asked USTR in September to extend the suspension, which took effect on November 10, 2025 and runs for one year.

The US Trade Representative's office, known as USTR, has proposed extending its suspension of a trade investigation into China's targeting of the maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors. The proposal would keep the suspension in place through January 9, 2027.

The suspended measures are port service fees. Under the April 2025 action, the fees applied to Chinese-owned, Chinese-operated and Chinese-built vessels, charged by net tonnage, and to foreign-built car carriers, according to Riviera Maritime Media. The current suspension runs one year from November 10, 2025. USTR set it at the President's direction after the November 1, 2025 trade deal between the Trump administration and Xi Jinping.

Supporters cited lower shipping costs, less commercial disruption and time to negotiate. In September, a group of shipper associations, trade groups and logistics providers wrote to USTR Jamieson Greer urging an extension, according to Supply Chain Dive.

The proposal would keep the shipbuilding and port-fee measures suspended. Tensions stay elevated on other fronts, including the DeepSeek procurement ban and the EU's proposed China market-access tool. For shipping and logistics operators with Chinese-built vessels, the proposal would mean more certainty for longer. It does not settle the dominance concerns the investigation was set up to address.