White House Considering Adjustments to Port Fee Plan

The Trump administration is considering a different plan for fees on Chinese ships visiting U.S. ports. The Economic Times says significant pushback against the plan came from industries that all said the idea would bring economic devastation. The changes being considered include delaying the plan implementation and a new fee structure that would lower the cost for Chinese ships to visit U.S. ports. The subject came up during U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s testimony at a U.S. Senate Finance Committee hearing this week. He told the lawmakers that not all of the proposed multi-million-dollar fees for Chinese ships to dock at U.S. ports would be implemented and might not be cumulative. The USTR office had suggested fees that could top $3 million per port call in the U.S. for those Chinese-built ships. The administration says the fees would halt China’s growing maritime influence and help promote America’s domestic maritime industry.