On November 9, 2025, following the White House announcement on November 1, 2025, of a broad agreement on trade between the United States and the People’s Republic China,[1] the United States Trade Representative (the “USTR”) officially suspended[2] the U.S. port-entry fees on China-linked vessels that had gone into effect on October 14, 2025, pursuant to the USTR’s Section 301 Action on China’s Targeting of the Maritime, Logistics, and Shipbuilding Sectors for Dominance (the “April 2025 Action”)[3] as modified. The suspension stays the Section 301 fees on China-linked vessels and non-U.S. built vehicle carriers and the additional duties on the import of China-linked ship-to-shore (“STS”) cranes and cargo handling equipment for one year commencing on November 10, 2025.[4]

The port-entry fees, which were first proposed pursuant to the USTR’s Proposed Action in Section 301 Investigation of China’s Targeting of the Maritime, Logistics, and Shipbuilding Sectors for Dominance on February 21, 2025 (the “February 2025 Proposed Action”),[5] were modified after two days of public hearings and hundreds of written comments[6] and published as part of the April 2025 Action on April 17, 2025, and were modified again on October 10, 2025, pursuant to the USTR’s Notice of Modification and Proposed Modification of Section 301 Action: China’s Targeting of the Maritime, Logistics, and Shipbuilding Sectors for Dominance (the “October 2025 Modification”).[7]

The April 2025 Action and October 2025 Modification are the result of the USTR’s year-long investigation, begun under the Biden Administration, and the USTR’s resulting determination pursuant to Sections 301(b) and 304(a) of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the “Trade Act” or “Act”),[8] that China’s targeting of the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors for dominance is actionable under Section 301(b) of the Act because it is unreasonable and burdens or restricts U.S. commerce.[9]

The February 2025 Proposed Action and April 2025 Action were the subject of articles published by the author and Jaime L.K. Rosenberg in the April 2025 and September 2025 editions of this Newsletter.

I. The USTR’s October 2025 Modifications, Clarifications and Proposed Modifications

The April 2025 Action is largely composed of five Annexes:  Annex I (Service Fee on Chinese Vessel Operators and Vessel Owners of China), Annex II (Service Fee on Vessel Operators of Chinese-Built Vessels), Annex III (Service Fee on Vessel Operators of Foreign-Built Vehicle Carriers), Annex IV (Restriction on Certain Maritime Transport Services) and Annex V (Tariffs on Ship-to-Shore (STS) Cranes and Cargo Handling Equipment of China).

The October 2025 Modification made several modifications and clarifications and proposed further modifications to the April 2025 Action that as a result of the USTR’s suspension will now go into effect on November 10, 2026.

A. Annex I: Service Fees on Chinese Vessel Operators and Vessel Owners of China

The October 2025 Modification does not modify Annex I, which subject to the one-year suspension effective November 10, 2025, requires “Chinese vessel operators” and the operators of vessels owned by “vessel owners of China” to pay port-entry service fees beginning October 14, 2025.

The October 2025 Modification does clarify some of the circumstances in which Annex I will not apply.  One clarification provides that a vessel that is only transiting the Panama Canal (including receiving bunkers or facilitating a crew change, but without exchanging cargo or passengers) is not subject to the requirements for entry from a foreign port.[10]

The October 2025 Modification also proposes a new modification to Annex I that would create a targeted coverage exception as of October 14, 2025.  This modification would treat certain LPG carrier vessels or other liquified gas carrier vessels that are ordered before April 17, 2025, and that are in service and entered into a long-term time charter agreement (that is, 20 years or more) prior to December 31, 2027, as being owned and operated by the charterers.[11]  In these circumstances, the time charterer of the carrier vessel would be considered its owner and operator.

B. Annex II:  Service Fees on Vessel Operators of Chinese-Built Vessels

The October 2025 Modification also does not modify Annex II of the April 2025 Action, which subject to the one-year suspension effective November 10, 2025, requires the operators of “Chinese-built vessels” to pay port-entry service fees beginning October 14, 2025.

The October 2025 Modification makes some important clarifications to Annex II.  The same clarification to Annex I regarding the Panama Canal applies to Annex II.[12]  The October 2025 Modification also identifies what types of containerships, liquid and dry bulk carriers, and other vessels may be eligible for the targeted coverage exception in paragraph (iii) of Annex II for “vessels with a capacity of equal to or less than: 4,000 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units, 55,000 deadweight tons, or an individual bulk capacity of 80,000 deadweight tons”[13] and the targeted exception in paragraph (vi) of Annex II for “specialized or special purpose-built vessels for the transport of chemical substances in bulk liquid forms.”[14]  The October 2025 Modification also clarifies that the targeted coverage exception in paragraph (iv) of Annex II for a vessel “entering a U.S. port in the continental United States from a voyage of less than 2,000 nautical miles from a foreign port or point” will be assessed based on the distance actually traveled from the vessel’s furthest foreign port call.[15]

The October 2025 Modification also includes proposals for further modifications to Annex II, including a proposal that would eliminate the targeted coverage exceptions in paragraph (ii) of Annex II for vessels arriving empty or in ballast, in paragraph (iii) for vessels with a capacity of equal to or less than: 4,000 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units, 55,000 deadweight tons, or an individual bulk capacity of 80,000 deadweight tons, and in paragraph (iv) for vessels entering a U.S. port in the continental United States from a voyage of less than 2,000 nautical miles from a foreign port or point, unless the vessel is loading cargo destined for a port outside of the United States, Canada, or Mexico, or offloading cargo that was loaded at a port outside of the United States, Canada, or Mexico.[16]

C. Annex III:  Service Fees on Vessel Operators of Foreign-Built Vehicle Carriers

The most significant modifications made by the October 2025 Modification are to Annex III of the April 2025 Action, which subject to the one-year suspension effective November 10, 2025, requires the operators of “non-U.S. built vehicle carriers” to pay port-entry service fees beginning October 14, 2025.

These modifications include changing the unit of measurement for the assessment of port-entry service fees in respect of any entering non-U.S. built vehicle carrier vessel from car-equivalent unit (“CEU”) capacity to the net tonnage of the entering vehicle carrier vessel,[17] changing the fee from US$150 per CEU capacity to US$46 per net ton of the entering non-U.S. built vehicle carrier vessel,[18] clarifying that the fee would be payable upon the vehicle carrier vessel’s first U.S. port or place from outside the customs territory on a particular string,[19] and making the fee payable no more than five times per calendar year, per vessel.[20]  The October 2025 Modifications also create a targeted coverage exemption expiring on April 18, 2029, for U.S.-owned or -flagged vessels enrolled in the U.S. Maritime Security Program[21] and a targeted coverage exemption for vessels “owned by the U.S. government and operated directly by the Government or for the Government by an agent or contractor, including a privately owned U.S.-flag vessel under bareboat charter to the Government.”[22]

The October 2025 Modification also provides that the clarification to Annexes I and II regarding the Panama Canal also applies to Annex III[23] and clarifies that vehicle carrier vessels subject to fees pursuant to Annex III may include roll-on/roll-off vessels.[24]  The USTR had proposed a version of this clarification on June 6, 2025, pursuant to its Notice of Proposed Modification of Action in Section 301 Investigation of China’s Targeting the Maritime, Logistics, and Shipbuilding Sectors for Dominance (the “June 2025 Proposed Modification”).[25]

The October 2025 Modification also includes a proposal that would create an additional targeted coverage exemption for U.S.-flag vessels of up to 10,000 deadweight tons that would apply as of October 14, 2025, and expire on April 18, 2029.[26]

D. Annexes IV & V:  Restriction on Certain Maritime Transport Services Involving the Export of U.S. LNG and Tariffs on Ship-to-Shore Cranes and Other Cargo Handling Equipment

The October 2025 Modification also modifies Annex IV of April 2025 Action, which requires that an increasing percentage of liquified natural gas (“LNG”) exported by ship from the United States to be exported on U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged and U.S.-built ships, and imposes additional duties on China-linked STS cranes and cargo-handling equipment similar to those proposed by the USTR as Annex V in its April 2025 Action.

As proposed by the USTR in the June 2025 Proposed Modification, the October 2025 Modification deletes, as of April 17, 2025, paragraph (j) of Annex IV, which would have authorized the USTR to direct the suspension of LNG export licenses for violations of Annex IV.[27]  The requirements of Annex IV, without paragraph (j), are scheduled to go into effect on April 17, 2028, and are unaffected by the suspension.[28]

The October 2025 Modification also implements, with modifications, the additional duties on China-linked STS cranes and cargo handling equipment proposed by the USTR in its April 2025 Action.  One of these modifications removes China-linked intermodal shipping containers from the cargo handling equipment on which the USTR had proposed imposing additional duties.[29]  The additional duties went into effect on November 9, 2025, but were suspended almost immediately for one-year commencing November 10, 2025.[30]

II. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Guidance on Port-Entry Fees

Annexes I, II and III of the April 2025 Action contemplate that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) is responsible for determining and collecting the port-entry service fees imposed on the operators of China-linked vessels and non-U.S. built vehicle carriers[31] and define many of the terms used to determine whether these fees are payable by reference to the information inserted by a vessel’s master or agent on the vessel’s Vessel Entrance or Clearance Statement (Form CBP 1300) upon the vessel’s entry to a U.S. port, point or place.[32]

Form CBP 1300 does not contain blanks for the insertion of all the information needed determine whether a fee is payable, so to address this issue, CBP published a Cargo Systems Messaging Service Bulletin on October 3, 2025, announcing the Section 301 Fee Payment Form that the CBP will use for the reporting and payment of the port-entry service fees payable by vessel operators pursuant to the April 2025 Action as modified.[33]  CBP also announced that vessel operators, not CBP, would be responsible for calculating the fees.[34]

On October 3, 2025, CBP also issued a Trade Information Notice (“TIN”) in relation to the Area Port of New Orleans,[35] followed by a very similar TIN for Area Port Houston/Galveston on October 6, 2025.[36]  Both TINs provide that, for the purpose of Annex I, vessel owners will be determined by the vessel’s registry, and vessel operators will be verified through review of the vessel’s Certificate of Financial Responsibility consistent with the definition of “vessel operator” on Annex I and the instructions for the completion of CBP Form 1300.  The TINs also provide that ports may request other verifiable agreements like a Bridge Letter or Continuous Synopsis Record in relation to a vessel operator.  Vessel-build information for the purpose of Annex II will also be determined by reference to the vessel’s registry, and the TINs also provide guidance on the calculation of net tonnage for Annexes I and II and the number of containers discharged for Annex II.  Portions of the New Orleans and Houston/Galveston TINs were superseded by the subsequent October 2025 Modification.

III. The USTR’s One-Year Suspension of Port-Entry Service Fees and Additional Duties

While the USTR one-year suspension of fees on operators of China-linked vessels and non-U.S. built vehicle carriers entering U.S. ports and the additional duties on the importation of China-linked STS cranes and cargo handling equipment is seen as welcome relief by many involved in and who rely on international shipping, the suspension has also been criticized by others who see the April 2025 Action and October 2025 Modification as necessary steps in combatting China’s dominance and restoring America’s strength in global maritime, logistics and shipbuilding.[37]  The USTR has indicated that it is continuing to monitor the issues uncovered by its investigation into China’s actions, policies, and practices pursuant to Section 301 of the Trade Act, and will consider whether China’s efforts to negotiate a solution that adequately addresses these issues make it appropriate to continue the suspension or to take other action in advance of the expiration of the suspension on November 10, 2026.[38]  Those likely to be impacted by the USTR’s port-entry service fees and additional duties, including the operators of Chinese-owned or -built vessels that call on U.S. ports and do not qualify for a targeted coverage exemption, now have additional time to consider how to react to the fees and additional duties if the suspension is not extended and the fees and additional duties are not lifted.