U.S. plan to set up ‘Office of Shipbuilding’ following mooted fees on Chinese vessels

Maritime matters are playing an important role in the incoming President Trump administration’s early efforts to project U.S. strength, with the overarching objective of countering Chinese dominance.

In recent weeks the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), an agency reporting directly to the President, has floated the idea of imposing fees of as much as $1.5 million on port calls of vessels built in Chinese yards, or managed by Chinese entities. Port calls by carriers with a high proportion of Chinese-built vessels could still be subject to fees, even on vessels built elsewhere. The USTR will hold hearings later in March and at that time will consider whether its proposal will be advanced.

In future years, a carrier’s port fees might be tied to the proportions of its vessels flagged and built in the States, with refunds of fees available for carriers moving in the direction of U.S. registry and construction. 

Meanwhile, in a complementary development Trump has proposed that an ‘Office of Shipbuilding’ be set up, in an apparent effort to reverse the sharp decline in national shipbuilding over recent decades. This would presumably report to the President (like the USTR) but the relationship of this putative office with the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) within the Department of Transportation has not been clarified as yet.

Separately, President Trump’s fulminations over alleged Chinese control of the Panama Canal seem to have borne fruit in the proposed US $23 billion sale of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Port Holdings’ 90% stake in Panama Ports Company plus its other non-Chinese port interests – including the UK’s Port of Felixstowe - to U.S. infrastructure mega-investor BlackRock teamed with liner giant MSC, as reported in a previous story on this website.