USTR Moves to Extend China Vessel Port-Fee Suspension to 9 January 2027

A two-month gap between politics and paperwork has finally been closed. On Friday, 23 October, the Office of the US Trade Representative formally proposed extending the suspension of port fees on Chinese-owned, Chinese-operated and Chinese-built vessels — and certain foreign-built vehicle carriers — from 10 November 2026 through 9 January 2027. The Federal Register notice is scheduled for publication on 26 October under docket USTR-2026-0694, with public comments accepted until 17:00 Eastern on 30 October.

The formality matters more than it looks. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had announced back in September that the broader US-China "Busan" trade truce, including the reciprocal port-fee suspension, would run to 10 January 2027. But a political statement does not amend a legal instrument: only a fresh Federal Register notice can move the termination date of the original suspension, and for weeks no such notice existed. Trade publications had been flagging the gap as an open risk — the Section 301 fees were, on paper, set to resume on 9 or 10 November regardless of what officials said on television. Friday's proposal is the missing legal step, and its window ends one day earlier than the date Bessent cited, a small but telling sign that the arrangement remains provisional.

The numbers behind the fees explain the industry's relief. The measures, born of a Section 301 investigation into China's dominance of shipbuilding, maritime and logistics, were collected for barely four weeks — from 14 October 2025 until the suspension took effect on 10 November. In that short window, US carrier Matson reported paying USD 6.4 million in reciprocal Chinese fees; COSCO's annual exposure under the original schedule was estimated at around USD 1.5 billion. A March 2025 study by Trade Partnership Worldwide, backed by nearly 30 US trade associations, projected the fees would lift shipping costs by 8 to 14 per cent.

Washington is not of one mind. Senators Mark Kelly and Elizabeth Warren wrote to Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in June demanding immediate reinstatement, pointing out that Chinese yards now build more than half of the world's commercial ships against 0.1 per cent for the United States. Maritime labour unions share that view. On the other side, the International Chamber of Shipping and the World Shipping Council co-signed a 23 September letter from 209 international and US associations urging an extension. That tug-of-war is precisely why the fees keep getting suspended rather than scrapped.

Shippers should also watch the wider frame. The administration's Maritime Action Plan contemplates fees on all foreign-built commercial vessels calling at US ports — from 1 to 25 US cents per kilogram of imported cargo, a range the administration itself estimated could raise up to USD 1.5 trillion over a decade for a proposed Maritime Security Trust Fund. The China-specific suspension sits inside that larger, still-evolving architecture.

Practical takeaways for US-bound cargo. First, audit contracts for clauses that pass reinstated port fees straight through to cargo owners, and flag 9 January 2027 as a negotiation date, not just a news date. Second, remember the baseline is already high: Drewry's World Container Index of 22 October put Shanghai-New York at USD 10,166 per FEU and Shanghai-Los Angeles at USD 8,007 — any fee reinstatement would stack on top of that. Third, read the final rule after the 30 October comment deadline, and watch whether Beijing formally extends its own suspension of reciprocal fees on US-linked vessels; the US notice does not confirm it. Yufeng International Logistics runs door-to-door and customs-integrated services on its US lanes — details on the USA routes page or via sales@ruixincargo.com.

Sources: Based on reporting by gCaptain, World Ports, Riviera Maritime Media, NavilinkGlobal and PPAI industry advisories.