🤮🤮🤮🤮Whoops! Maybe those tariffs and the racist Sinophobia on Chinese shipbuilding and logistics could potentially harm the U.S. national economy.

Major stakeholders in the global maritime industry, especially companies, and actors based in the United States, are raising the alarm over the impacts of Trump’s tariffs and Section 301 claims against the Chinese government and multinational companies:

• The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), a trade group that represents at least 80 percent of the world’s merchant fleet, submitted public comments to the U.S. Trade Representative, Ambassador Jamieson Greer, that President Donald Trump’s attacks on Chinese shipbuilding are potentially catastrophic.

• The USTR plans to reduce China’s dominance in maritime sectors by charging up to $1.5 million in port fees for all Chinese-built ships in a bid also to try promoting the use of U.S. vessels by shippers importing and exporting out of the country.

• "The proposed remedies could have an overall net negative impact on the U.S. economy, and result in a decline in U.S. exports,” states ICS in their submission, which was authored and submitted by the chamber’s Guy Platten. Platten is the outgoing secretary-general of the International Chamber of Shipping, per reports.

• GCaptain reports China builds 61 percent of the world’s new merchant ships, with the fees potentially affecting 98 percent of container ships calling U.S. ports.

• That’s exorbitant, given that domestic shipbuilding capabilities are insufficient, according to a similar USTR filing by the Chamber of Shippers of America. They argue, “Due to decades of neglect, the U.S. maritime industry has seen a steady decline…we necessarily must rely on [the] vessels registered in other [nations].”

• BIMCO, or the Baltic and International Maritime Council, called out shipbuilding in the United States and how the industry has not “been competitive for a long time, witnessed by the lack of U.S. built tonnage in the world fleet.” Section 301 levies wouldn’t lead to a boost, whatsoever, in shipping within the United States market.

• A hearing on Section 301 levies on Chinese-built ships is scheduled for March 24. With the hearing drawing near, industry stakeholders stress the importance of exploring well-balanced alternatives that boost U.S. maritime competitiveness.

• Despite industry calls for a balanced approach to tariffs, especially retaliatory and targeted levies against the Chinese government and economy, Trump’s team remains adamant that such levies are meant to bolster our domestic economy.

• That is a load of crap, actually. New reporting by the UCLA Anderson School of Management published this month indicates that Trump’s tariffs could lead to a major recession in a year or two. UCLA Anderson chief economist Clement Bohr warned, “The administration’s purportedly desired policies would impose, each in their own way, a significant contraction on different sectors of the economy.”

Bottom line: Industry warnings don’t seem to phase Ambassador Greer or the Trump White House. Now the work to ruin the U.S. economy via death by tariffs is in full swing.

CONTEXT: “UCLA Anderson Forecast Announces a Recession Watch” - Bohr

MORE: “USTR Proposes Port Fees and Cargo Preference Measures to Counter China’s Maritime ‎Dominance” - Troutman Pepper Locke

MORE: “Farm groups alarmed by USTR proposal on Chinese ship fees” - The Fence Post

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📈BY THE NUMBERS…📈

⛽ Diesel: $3.549 / gal (⬇️from $3.582 last week) - EIA

✈️ Air Cargo Index (Feb. ‘25): 173.1 (⬇️from 186.6 in Jan. ‘25) - FRED

🚢 Global Container Index: $2,221.40 on March 20, 2025 - Freightos

📰OTHER NEWS IN FREIGHT📰

🙃The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development says that Trump’s tariffs are causing significant harm to the global economy already: Trump’s tariffs could disrupt the global economy and trigger inflation at a risky moment. CNN…

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More on this, with Transport Topics reporting…

👍Ports of LA and Long Beach have strong February volumes: Port of LA reports the handing of 801,398 TEUs, marking a 2.5 percent increase compared to the same period in 2024 and the second-busiest February in the port’s long history. Neighboring Port of Long Beach posted its ninth straight month of monthly cargo volume increases.

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