US port fees on China could top US$23bn

Proposed under the Trump administration, the fees could reach up to US$1.5 million per port call for Chinese-owned ships and US$1 million for foreign-owned ships built in China.

While the structure has since been revised to be based on vessel capacity – lowering costs for smaller ships – the core objective remains intact.

According to Saleem Khan, chief data & analytics officer at Pole Star Global, Chinese vessels made 14,295 port calls to 252 US ports in 2024, accounting for 18% of all port traffic. Of these, 3,038 were either Chinese-owned or Chinese-built. If the proposed fees were implemented in 2025, they could total approximately US$23 billion annually.

Houston emerged as the most visited US port by Chinese ships in 2024, followed by Port Everglades, Savannah, Long Beach and Mobile. This demonstrates China’s substantial presence in US maritime trade and the potential disruption these fees could cause for US importers, exporters and supply chains, says Khan.

Pole Star Global recommends quality data gathering as a way to mitigate the potential fallout. With stakes this high, stakeholders must rely on robust data to forecast impacts, assess risk and navigate the evolving trade landscape, it says.