China suspends ‘special port fees’ on US vessels for one year amid easing trade tensions

Amid easing trade tensions between the US and China, Beijing on Monday announced a one-year suspension of “special port fees” on US vessels, mirroring Washington’s pause on levies targeting Chinese ships — a move seen as part of a fragile trade truce taking shape between the two powers.

The United States and China have been locked in a months-long tariff war but agreed to scale back punitive measures after Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met in South Korea last month. At its peak, duties on both sides had reached triple-digit levels, disrupting global trade and supply chains.

According to China’s transport ministry, the suspension of port fees on US-operated or US-built ships visiting Chinese ports took effect at 13:01 (0501 GMT) Monday. Once a postwar shipbuilding giant, the US now accounts for just 0.1 per cent of global output, while China leads nearly half of all new ship launches, followed by South Korea and Japan.

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Beijing lifts sanctions on US subsidiaries of Hanwha Ocean

Separately, Beijing announced a one-year suspension of sanctions against five US subsidiaries of South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean. The move followed Washington’s halt on port fees levied on Chinese-built vessels.
“In light of this (US suspension)… China has decided to suspend the relevant measures for one year,” Beijing’s commerce ministry said.

China had earlier sanctioned the Hanwha units in October for allegedly supporting a US “Section 301” probe into its shipbuilding dominance. A planned Chinese investigation into how that probe might impact its shipbuilding security and supply chain has also been shelved for now.

Crackdown on fentanyl precursors

In another step tied to recent negotiations, China’s commerce ministry said it had added more than a dozen fentanyl precursors to its list of controlled exports to the US, Mexico, and Canada. The move follows Washington’s long-standing accusation that Beijing failed to curb the flow of chemicals fueling America’s opioid crisis.

The White House earlier confirmed Beijing had agreed to “stop the shipment of certain designated chemicals to North America” as part of joint efforts to tackle fentanyl smuggling.

Cautious thaw continues

These moves mark a tentative warming in ties since the Xi-Trump meeting. Last week, China extended a one-year suspension of additional tariffs on US goods, keeping them at 10 per cent, while easing restrictions on soybeans and other farm imports. It also lifted export bans on gallium, germanium, and antimony — metals vital to modern technology.