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Investing.com -- The Trump administration is modifying its previously announced plan to impose heavy port fees on Chinese-built ships, aiming to reduce the impact on U.S. exports, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources close to the situation. The report appears to confirm a Reuters story on the same topic yesterday.
Under the revised plan, the fees will be primarily based on the capacity of the vessel, leading to reduced costs for smaller ships docking at ports such as Los Angeles, New York, Savannah, Ga., and Oakland, Calif. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is also considering lowering the charges on ships carrying agricultural exports like soybeans and timber.
The USTR's initial plan, unveiled in February, proposed charging Chinese-built vessels between $500,000 and $1.5 million for each port call. This proposal was met with criticism from shipping companies and trade groups, who warned that the fees would lead to higher costs for American consumers, negatively affect U.S. farm exports, and endanger jobs for dockworkers. Container operators suggested they would reduce their calls to U.S. ports by half, given that an average sailing from Asia includes around four U.S. port calls.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer informed the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday that the administration was revising the plan based on the feedback received from the public. "I think the President will look very carefully to make sure we have the right amount of time and the right incentives without impacting our commodity exports," Greer said.
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