Spotlight
China retaliates over USTR port fees
China will exempt US-flag ships built in China from its new port fees, even as the first two Chinese-operated vessels were slapped with new fees in the US. The concession by Beijing most benefits APL, which is US-flagged and operates Chinese-built vessels. Maersk Line Ltd., the top US-flagged carrier, only operates one US-flag ship that calls China, while the rest of its fleet operates in the trans-Atlantic. US-based Matson has both US-flag ships and Chinese-built, internationally flagged ships calling China. On the same day the US and China imposed reciprocal port call charges on each other’ s vessels and owners, Beijing announced an investigation into the effects of the US Trade Representative’ s( USTR) port charges and tariffs, as well as any organizations and individuals that assisted or supported USTR’ s“ discriminatory restrictive measures against our country in the shipping industry, shipbuilding industry and related industrial and
Ringo Chiu / Shutterstock. com supply chains,” the Chinese transport ministry said in a statement. The US is charging Chinese-owned or-operated vessels $ 50 per net ton on each initial port call subject to a cap of five port calls a year. Foreign owners and operators of China-built vessels are being charged the higher of either $ 18 per net ton or $ 120 per discharged container. The rates will increase next April. China, in turn, is levying a fee of $ 56 per net ton on non-China-made vessels that are US-flagged or owned or controlled by US companies or companies where more than 25 % shares are held by US interests. The US port fees heavily target Cosco Shipping, its subsidiary OOCL and Hede Shipping, while also giving non-Chinese operators a way to mostly avoid the charges by substituting China-built ships on US services with vessels built in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. As a result, the Gemini Cooperation diverted two US-flag vessels in a trans-Pacific service away from China, with one of the alliance partners warning of a multimillion-dollar hit that carriers face on US-flag ships because of the fees. Both of Gemini’ s affected ships were built in South Korea, and each would incur a $ 2.5 million charge based on their net tonnage. On the other side of the Pacific, the first two Chinese-operated ships to be subjected to US fees— the 16,828-TEU OOCL Sunflower and 13,800-TEU Cosco Jasmine— called at US ports on the day the new fees went into effect, according to Sea-web, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S & P Global. The other 14 container ships to call US ports on Oct. 14 were exempt because they were under 4,000 TEUs or were US-flagged.
Vladimir Martinov / Shutterstock. com
Volume, not pricing, driving US intermodal results
Domestic intermodal providers— whether the railroads or intermodal marketing companies— will have to find revenue gains through volume growth rather than stronger pricing into 2026. In its latest earnings statements, CSX Transportation said intermodal revenue grew 4 % in the third quarter, largely based on a 5 % increase in volume rather than raising rates on rail shippers, putting shippers on track for competitive pricing into 2026. The railroad reported that intermodal volume was led by“ strong growth” in international business and“ modest growth” in domestic traffic, suggesting containerized ocean freight outpaced 53-foot domestic demand. CSX attributed most of its growth to“ new service offerings,” as opposed to higher prices on legacy business.“ Intermodal performed well despite a soft trucking market and muted pricing,” CSX CCO Kevin Boone said in an Oct. 13 earnings call.“ Customers face uncertainty and headwinds from shifting trade policies, weak global commodity prices, unsupportive interest rates and a persistently soft trucking market.” CSX’ s comments reflect a broader national trend of stagnant pricing, and with trucking rates still depressed, intermodal providers are bracing for a fourth straight bid season in which carriers will be unable to recoup rising costs to serve. Average domestic intermodal contract rates stood at $ 1.50 per mile in September, roughly the same as pre-pandemic levels, according to the Journal of Commerce Intermodal Savings Index. National rates were unchanged from September 2024 and remain more than 25 % below
6 Journal of Commerce | November 3, 2025 www. joc. com