US formalises China-linked ship fee pause until 9 January 2027

The US has formalised a two-month extension of its suspension of Section 301 port fees on China-linked ships, Seatrade Maritime reported on 26 October, with relief now running through 9 January 2027³. The Federal Register notice behind the move had been scheduled for publication that day¹.

The pause covers the port fees plus duties on ship-to-shore cranes and cargo-handling equipment¹. Seatrade also lists intermodal tariffs as covered³.

What is suspended, and until when

USTR is extending the existing one-year suspension, which the notice puts at an end date of 9 November, by two months¹. The measures stay suspended from 10 November 2026 through 9 January 2027¹.

During that window, operators face no liability for port fees under Annexes I, II and III of the original Section 301 action, according to the notice as reported by gCaptain¹. The suspension also covers certain duties on ship-to-shore cranes and cargo-handling equipment¹.

The fees target Chinese-owned, Chinese-operated and China-built vessels calling at US ports, plus certain foreign-built vehicle carriers¹.

Comments are still open to 30 October

USTR is taking comments on the extension until 5 pm Eastern Time on 30 October, under docket USTR-2026-0694¹. When gCaptain reported the notice on 23 October, it said the extension had not been finalised¹. Comments therefore close 10 days before the current pause ends on 9 November¹.

The notice does not say whether China will extend its own suspension of retaliatory fees on US-linked ships¹. USTR said the United States is "continuing to engage with China with the goal of obtaining the elimination of the acts, policies, and practices at issue in the investigation"¹.

Two months, not a year: the truce link

The original pause came from an agreement between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping reached in South Korea¹. Washington began collecting the fees on 14 October 2025 and suspended them on 10 November 2025, so they ran for less than four weeks¹.

At the leaders' meeting in Washington in late September 2026, the wider US-China trade truce was extended by two months, Freightos said in a market update⁴. Freightos described that truce as due to expire on 10 November, a day after the fee suspension⁴. At that stage USTR had not issued an official deferral of the ship fees⁴.

The US Treasury Secretary said Washington agreed to only two months because China still needs to fulfil earlier commitments to buy US agricultural goods⁴. That suggests another extension may depend on progress on those purchases⁴.

Some US lawmakers and maritime unions want the fees back. Senators Mark Kelly and Elizabeth Warren wrote to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in June arguing that the fees are "critical to revitalizing U.S. shipbuilding"¹.

What the fees could cost

A September market report said the charges could exceed USD 1 million for a typical container ship on the FBX01 and FBX03 routes². The report presents this as the fee exposure on the vessel and does not say how much carriers would pass on to shippers².

During the short period the fees were live, US carrier Matson reported $6.4 million in reciprocal Chinese port fees, while COSCO faced an estimated $1.5 billion in annual US charges¹.

A wider plan is also in play. The administration's Maritime Action Plan would charge fees on all foreign-built commercial ships calling at US ports¹. It sets out charges of 1 cent to 25 cents per kilogram of imported cargo¹. The administration estimated the upper end could raise as much as $1.5 trillion over 10 years¹.

Where India sits

As gCaptain summarises the notice, the triggers are Chinese ownership, Chinese operation and a Chinese build yard, and its summary does not mention flag¹. A container from Nhava Sheva to Los Angeles on a China-built or China-operated ship is therefore on tonnage that would face the fee if the pause lapses¹. A container ship with no Chinese ownership, operation or build link would not, though certain foreign-built vehicle carriers are caught separately¹.

Two dates now matter commercially: 30 October for comments and 9 January 2027, when the relief ends¹.