China slams US plans to charge port fees on Chinese-built vessels, vows to defend interests

China's Foreign Ministry slammed US plans to charge port fees on Chinese-built vessels on Friday, urging the US side to respect facts and multilateral rules, immediately stop its wrongdoings and warned that China will take necessary measures to defend its lawful rights and interests.

The aggressive policy, rolled out the same day that US President Donald Trump reportedly floated the idea that the US expects to reach a trade "deal" with China and signaled a potential end to the tit-for-tat tariff hikes between the US and China, has highlighted the typical tactics of the US administration as it seeks to pressure Beijing to make concessions while mounting its crackdown on China in multiple fields, an analyst said.  

Faced with widespread doubts and opposition, the US administration is facing increasing pressure from its reckless moves and the tariff "numbers game" cannot be sustainable, Chinese analysts said, noting that the US needs to show more sincerity with concrete actions if it wants to start any talks.

The US administration went ahead on Thursday local time with its port fee by announcing the details of how Chinese-built vessels are going to be charged, starting at $50 a net ton from mid-October, and increasing onward, under the guise of reviving the US shipbuilding industry and reducing China's dominance in the sector. 

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Friday that imposing port fees and levying tariffs on cargo handling facilities hurt the US itself as well as others.

"The move not only hikes global maritime shipping costs and disrupts the stability of global industrial and supply chains, but also increases inflationary pressures in the US and hurts the interests of American consumers and businesses. The practice will ultimately fail to revitalize the US shipbuilding industry," Lin said.

Commenting on the USTR Section 301 Action regarding China's maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Friday that China strongly deplores and opposes the US action. 

The measures taken by the US fully expose the nature of its unilateralism and protectionist policies, and are typical non-market behaviors with discriminatory overtones. They seriously harm the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, significantly disrupt the stability of global production and supply chains, severely violate WTO rules, and greatly undermine the rules-based multilateral trading system and international economic and trade order, said a MOFCOM statement.

Chinese analysts described the actions as discriminatory trade bullying, noting that it not only disrupts global supply chains, but also damages the country's credibility as it insisted upon the policy despite wide opposition from the industry.

The levy will only serve to disrupt the logistics of the US, cripple its port operations, and hurt the interests of its allies, a Chinese expert stressed. It is just one more irrational policy rolled out by the US administration, and this one will exacerbate US economic woes while inflicting grave wounds on the world economy.

The port fees plan came as part of more aggressive potential actions against China. One US lawmaker is reportedly requesting JPMorgan and Bank of America to pull out of underwriting the upcoming Hong Kong IPO of Chinese electric vehicle battery giant CATL, Reuters reported on late Thursday. The US is also reportedly pressuring other countries to curb trade with China in negotiations over US tariffs, according to Bloomberg.

Tariff 'numbers game' unsustainable

These developments coincided with Trump's floating the idea that the US expects to reach a trade "deal" with China and signaling a potential end to the tit-for-tat tariff hikes between the two countries.

Trump on Thursday said he expects to make a trade deal with China, though he offered no specifics or indications of how talks would get underway between the two largest economies, Reuters reported.

In a separate report, Trump on Thursday signaled a potential end to the tariff hikes between the US and China, and that a deal over the fate of TikTok may have to wait, according to Reuters.

China's Foreign Ministry did not comment on the matter on Friday. Previously, the ministry stated that intimidation, threat and blackmail are not the right way to engage with China.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Commerce said that China has noticed that some of its exports to the US are now subject to cumulative tariffs of up to 245 percent under various pretexts but it will ignore the "meaningless numbers game." 

The ministry emphasized that such a move has blatantly exposed how the US has instrumentalized and weaponized tariffs with utter irrationality.

Chinese analysts said the US' approach showed a lack of sincerity, and urged the US side to carry out positive acts. 

"The US government is now facing widespread opposition and lawsuits across the US, and it is being urged to rework its China tariff policy. This, together with US market adjustment and the performance of US treasury bonds, has indicated that the tariff 'numbers game' cannot be sustainable," Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Friday.

Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times that the fact the US government is signaling the expectation of reaching some sort of deal with China while it continues to hurt its interests reflected a belief within the administration that tariffs can pressure Beijing to make concessions.

"However, it is already clear that such thinking and such an approach is not acceptable to China, as there is no sincerity," Zhou said.

The Chinese government has always stated that the door for negotiation is open but any talks must be carried out on an equal and fair basis, the expert said.

Tariffs face wide opposition

Trump's remarks came amid a market correction in the US, vocal criticism by some American politicians and officials as well as a visit to China by US-based chipmaker Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, during which the US tech mogul said "the China market is very important to us." 

An aggressive US tariff policy will trigger a significant slowdown in the US economy this year and next, with the median probability of recession in the next 12 months approaching 50 percent, according to economists polled by Reuters.

On Wednesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom filed a lawsuit challenging the US government's spate of tariffs that have upended global trade, BBC reported, noting that California is the first US state to file legal action against the US government over the tariffs.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear also raised alarm bells over tariffs, The Hill reported on Wednesday.

In an interview with China Media Group published on Friday, Zhao Zhongxiu, president of the University of International Business and Economics, pointed out that the US is trying to get a good bargain from China through its extreme pressure tactics.

The US inventory level is a factor. As the inventory dries up in the next three to six months, the US will be facing soaring inflation, which will be a situation the US cannot control through its blackmailing tactic, Zhao said, adding that the global production system cannot be separated from that of China's.

China-founded e-commerce sites Temu and Shein said they plan to raise prices for US customers starting next week, the AP reported on Friday. Earlier, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said that sellers may have to pass the cost of tariffs onto consumers.