China suspends ‘special port fees’ on US vessels

CHINA said yesterday it would suspend for one year “special port fees” on US vessels “simultaneously” with Washington's pause on levies targeting Chinese ships, as a fragile trade truce between the superpowers continues to take shape.

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The US and China have been involved in a volatile trade and tariff war for months, but agreed to walk back some punitive measures after presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump met last month in South Korea.

At one point, duties on both sides had reached prohibitive triple-digit levels, hampering trade between the world’s two largest economies and snarling global supply chains.

The suspension of the port fees, which applied to ships operated by or built in the US that visited Chinese ports, began at 1pm yesterday, a transport ministry statement said.

The US shipbuilding industry was dominant after the Second World War but has gradually declined and now accounts for just 0.1% of global output.