Chinese airline Cosco and its subsidiary Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) in Hong Kong said they will not impose surcharges to offset new US port duties on ships built and operated by China, which are scheduled to be implemented on October 14. This decision contrasts with other liner operators who adjust their services in response to fees.
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Cosco has informed its US customers that it does not plan to make any changes to its services ahead of the punitive duties, which were drafted under the authority of the US Trade Representative. “Shippers seem unlikely to see much of an impact once the new law goes into effect,” Judah Levine, an analyst at Fritos, said in a note to clients.
The tariffs, aimed at weakening Chinese maritime dominance and boosting American shipping and shipbuilding, could cost Cosco and OOCL up to $2.1 billion in 2026, according to analysts, but could be absorbed by support from Beijing.
The specific fee structure charges Chinese-owned or operated vessels $80 per net tonnage per voyage to non-Chinese U.S. operators, and larger fees of $23 per net ton or $154 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) capacity will be charged. This fee applies up to five times per year per vessel, while Ro-Ro carriers will pay a rate of $14 per net ton. The fee is scheduled to increase by $5 per ton annually through April 2028. Payment must be made before arrival through the Treasury Department’s Pay.gov platform, and ships that do not prove payment risk being denied entry or shipments at U.S. ports.
In a related development, Beijing issued new maritime laws in late September that allow it to impose retaliatory port fees and deny port access and data acquisition to ships from countries that discriminate against China. “US lines like Matson, and US-flagged ships account for a modest share of trans-Pacific volumes, so this type of response may not have a huge impact, but it does represent an escalation as the deadline approaches,” Levin said.
Separately, trans-Pacific spot container rates continued to decline after the Chinese Golden Week holiday. The Freightos Baltic Index reported that West Coast prices for Asia and the United States fell 16% to $1,554 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU), a level that Levin described as “possibly loss-leading.” Prices on the East Coast fell 18% to $3,260 per FEU. On other trade lanes, Asia-Europe rates settled at $2,000 per FEU, down 9%, and Asia-Mediterranean rates fell 6% to $2,217 per FEU. According to Levine, “All these corridors [are] At least 60% lower than this time last year and at or near the lowest levels since before the start of the Red Sea crisis nearly two years ago.
Source: Market intelligence platform IndexBox
