On April 18, the WeChat Official Account "China Shipowners Association" released a stern statement:
On local time April 17, 2025, the Office of the United States Trade Representative issued measures for the 301 investigation on China's maritime, logistics and shipbuilding industries. These measures are highly discriminatory and seriously violate international trade rules and the Sino-US Maritime Transport Agreement. They are typical acts of unilateralism and protectionism. The China Shipowners Association strongly opposes and protests against these measures on behalf of all Chinese shipowners. It firmly opposes the US accusations based on erroneous facts and prejudices, and condemns its behavior of abusing trade protectionist tools to disrupt the global shipping market order.
The vigorous development of China's international maritime transport is the result of global trade growth and supply-demand relations. It benefits from following market principles and international rules, and from adhering to fair competition and expanding openness, without ever adopting discriminatory policies. Chinese shipowners strictly comply with international trade rules, providing strong support for the efficient operation of the global supply chain, and offering stable and reliable logistics services for import and export trade of the United States and other countries.
The US side believes that the competitiveness of Chinese enterprises stems from so-called "unfair policies," disregarding the historical and objective facts of the development of the global shipbuilding and shipping industries since World War II. It completely ignores the efforts made by China's maritime industry in technological innovation, cost control, and service quality.
The US unilateral actions severely undermine international trade rules, seriously disrupt the global shipping market order, raise logistics costs, and ultimately harm the interests of numerous American cargo owners, American import and export enterprises, and global consumers. The shortsighted use of trade protectionist tools will eventually backfire. Such short-sighted policies not only fail to solve their own industrial problems but also harm the US economy and consumer interests!
The China Shipowners Association strongly urges the US side to stop investigations and actions based on political prejudice, revoke all discriminatory measures, genuinely respect international trade rules and market laws, and avoid further serious damage to the normal development of the global maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding industries. The China Shipowners Association will continue to represent all Chinese shipowners, uphold an open and cooperative attitude, actively communicate with all relevant parties including the US side, follow the development trends of the international shipping industry, and jointly maintain the sustainable prosperity of the global economic and trade development.
Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7494800534172369442/
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