China is taking preemptive action against the US’s plans to hike port fees for China-linked tonnage. The port fees are scheduled to come into effect on October 14, but there haven’t been any administrative rules set yet.
So we don’t know how, or if, they will be collected.
Quite a few experts believe that there won’t ever be any. The box-booking platform Freightos is one source mentioned in the article. Trump has a history of putting penalties out there and giving way in negotiations just before they will go into effect. It’s known as the Trump Always Chickens Out (TACO) effect.
I agree that we may never see any container ship fees. But I am also wary of what Trump may be giving away in the negotiations with China.
And I think history tells us that we will see severe blowback in terms of various trade restraints placed by foreign nations. These will hurt American businesses.
Sam Chambers September 30, 2025
https://splash247.com/china-prepares-retaliation-playbook-ahead-of-us-port-fee-deadline/
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