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🔥 Greetings, Maritime Mavericks!
For years, ships, cranes, and containers flowed from one country more than any other.
The world sailed on price.
Now a new factor is steering the wheel: policy.
Today, we’ll explore further:
🧭 What changed?
🛡️ How to avoid the fees?
🧩 Why the U.S. is doing this?
⚖️ Winners, losers, and the gray zone?
🗓️ Your 12-month playbook?
⏱️ Timeline that matters!
🌍 The big picture: policy is the new fuel!
Ready? Let’s go…
🧭 What changed?
Four fee tracks, one per ship.
Only one applies on a U.S. entry (not per port), capped at five U.S. entries per ship per year.
Chinese-owned/operated ships (Tier 1)
2025: $50/NT → 2026: $80 → 2027: $110 → 2028: $140
A 100,000 NT ship in 2028 = $14M per U.S. entry.Chinese-built ships run by non-Chinese carriers (Tier 2)
2025: $18/NT or $120/box → to $33/NT or $250/box in 2028
10,000 TEU ship in 2028 ≈ $2.5M per visit (whichever is higher).Car carriers (foreign built)
From Oct 2025: $150 per CEU
6,500 CEU PCC ≈ $975k per call.
Waiver: order and receive a U.S.-built car carrier within 3 years.LNG exports (Phase II from 2028)
Mandatory U.S.-built share ramps from 1% (2028) toward ~11% by 2047.
Suspension: order and receive a U.S.-built LNG carrier within 3 years.
Smart exemptions shaping networks now
No fees: <4,000 TEU, or voyages <2,000 nm
No fees: bulkers, empties, U.S. territories, Great Lakes vessels
No cumulative per port — fee is per U.S. voyage
Translation: expect Caribbean transshipment to grow, more sub-4,000 TEU loops on the USEC, and route pruning to minimize U.S. entries.
Port-side squeeze next
USTR also targeted cranes, containers, and chassis with 20–100% tariffs, directly hitting terminal Capex and vendor maps.
