Before US port fee hits China vessels, carriers are already dodging the blow: analysts
With steep new fees scheduled to take effect October 14, ports on east and west coasts of the US are seeing fewer Chinese-built container ships
“On the transpacific, there are early signs of a reduction in the deployment of Chinese-built vessels,” shipping consultancy Sea Intelligence said in a report last week.
After tracking vessel deployment in 2025, the consultancy said that, for the Asia-North America west coast trade, the share of Chinese-built vessels had trended downwards from a level of 25-30 per cent in the first half of 2025 to a range of 20-25 per cent in recent weeks.
The Asia-North America east coast trade also saw a similar, though less pronounced, trend, the report said.
In contrast, there does not yet seem to be any such development in the transatlantic trade, according to the report.
Cosco Shipping Lines, the container arm of the Shanghai and Hong Kong-listed Cosco Shipping Holdings, has affirmed its commitment to maintaining the “stable operation” of its liner service to the US market.
“While the port service fees may bring some challenges to our operation, we remain confident in our US route network service,” the company said on September 16.