By Lisa Baertlein
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The China Shipowners’ Association opposes a U.S. proposal to slap hefty port entry fees on ocean cargo carriers that own or have ordered vessels from China, saying it violates international rules and U.S. laws, according to a statement seen by Reuters on Thursday.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration aims to partially pay for an American shipbuilding comeback with those fees, according to a draft executive order seen by Reuters.
The CSA’s members include China’s COSCO Shipping, which is expected to be among the hardest hit by the fees proposed by the U.S. trade representative as part of that agency’s investigation into China’s growing domination of global shipping.
In a comment filed on the USTR site, CSA called the agency’s proposed actions discriminatory and said they violate World Trade Organization rules as well as WTO dispute settlement rulings.
The USTR’s move also violates the 2003 Sino-U.S. Maritime Agreement, CSA said, adding that it violates U.S. laws and rules.
The proposals exceed the statutory authority of the USTR, infringe on the jurisdiction of the Federal Maritime Commission, violate the standards for agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act and violate the Export Clause of the U.S. Constitution, the group said.
Global shipping executives have warned that the proposal could spark chaos in supply chains and backfire on the United States by heaping $30 billion in annual costs on American consumers and doubling the cost of shipping U.S. exports.
The China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry, in a separate comment, said it opposed the proposal.
China’s foreign ministry said this week the move would not revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding industry and that China would take steps to uphold its rights and interests.
(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Rod Nickel)
