Los Angeles (Reuters)-The Trump government protected on Thursday national exporters and shipowners who serve the large lakes, the Caribbean and port rates of port rates that will be charged on vessels built by China.
The rates seek to revitalize US naval construction and combat Chinese maritime dominance.
The Federal Registry Notice published by the US Commercial Representative (USTR) was softened compared to the February proposal, which aimed to impose rates of up to $ 1.5 million per scale of ships built in China, which caused concern in the global maritime transport industry.
Maritime transport executives feared that virtually all carriers were affected by cumulative fees. They claimed that extra costs would make US export prices unattractive and impose billions of dollars at additional US consumers.
The reviewed plan said the rate would be applied once by travel on affected ships, and no more than six times a year.
The agency also decided not to impose rates based on the percentage of ships built in China on a fleet or future requests from Chinese ships, as it had originally proposed. Empty ships that reach US ports to be loaded with bulk exports such as coal or grains are also exempt.
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Implementation of fees will start in six months. Affected bulk ships will pay a fee based on the weight of the load, while the container ships will pay a fee based on the number of boxes transported. It was not immediately clear if these rates would be lower than the initially foreseen.
The decision takes place on the anniversary of a year of the release of the USTR investigation on China’s sea activities. In January, the agency concluded that China uses unfair policies and practices to master global maritime transport.
The revision occurred after a public and private opposition tsunami of the global maritime industry, including national port and vessel operators, as well as US exporters and importers of all kinds of product, from coal and corn to bananas and concrete.
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Industry executives warned that taxpayers, workers, and even US vessel builders and owners that the government intends to support could be harmed if the plan were adopted without adjustments.
Contacting ships such as MSC and Maersk visit various ports during each trip to the United States, and executives warned that rates would rapidly increase.
USTR will hold an audience on May 19 to discuss load transportation cranes, chassis that carry containers and chassis pieces. China dominates the manufacture of port cranes, and USTR plans to apply a 100% rate on these products.
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(Report by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles, Andrea Shalal in Washington and Jonathan Saul in London)
