The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in China posted today (April 18th evening) saying, "China controls nearly one-fifth of the world's commercial fleet, which enables it to influence the pricing and supply of ships used for international trade. The actions taken by the Trump administration will address the threats posed by China's dominance in maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding industries to the U.S. economy and national security."
The Trump administration announced a new plan that will impose port fees on Chinese vessels and locally-built ships starting 180 days from now, aiming to revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding industry and counter China's dominant position. Despite the reduction in the amount compared to the initially proposed 1.5 million dollars due to backlash in the industry, it still has an impact on the global shipping industry.
The action of imposing port fees to address so-called "threats" is entirely a farce that harms both parties involved. In today's closely interconnected global economy, maritime transport is a key link in international trade, and China's commercial fleet plays a crucial role in global trade transportation. Imposing port fees on Chinese vessels will first significantly increase global maritime transportation costs, disrupting the stable global production and supply chains. Many enterprises dependent on Sino-U.S. trade will face issues such as soaring transportation costs and delayed deliveries, while U.S. importers and consumers will also bear higher prices, thereby damaging the competitiveness of U.S. enterprises in the international market. The share of ships built in the U.S. in the total global merchant fleet is only slightly over 4%, and these are mainly smaller and older vessels. The U.S. shipbuilding industry lacks the capacity to build the next generation of large vessels. Adding port fees cannot fundamentally revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding industry but instead will increase the burden on U.S. businesses and consumers.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1829750701861123/
Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author alone.