Siem Car Carriers has urged the US Trade Representative (USTR) to permanently withdraw port fees imposed on foreign-built vehicle carriers under its Section 301 maritime action, warning that their reinstatement would increase shipping costs and risk reducing vessel capacity serving the US market.
The fees were first proposed in February 2025 and were due to come into force in October that year, but were suspended under a US-China trade agreement to allow further negotiations. The suspension was due to expire on 9 November 2026, but the USTR has now proposed extending it until 9 January 2027.
The measures covered vessels owned or operated by Chinese companies and ships built in China, as well as all foreign-built vehicle carriers calling at US ports, regardless of ownership or country of construction. The US$150 per CEU fee on foreign-built vehicle carriers was intended, according to the USTR and the Trump administration, to encourage the use of US-built car carriers and create a demand signal for investment in domestic shipbuilding capacity.
In a submission to USTR in response to its request for comments on a further suspension of the measures (Docket USTR-2026-0694), the Norwegian carrier supported extending the suspension of the maritime action targeting China’s maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, requesting that USTR permanently withdraws the fees. Siem Car Carriers operates pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs) on Atlantic and Pacific trades.
The company argued that there is currently no established US production base capable of building modern deep-sea vehicle carriers at the scale required by international vehicle trades. While supporting the US administration’s objective of revitalising domestic commercial shipbuilding, the company said achieving this would require sustained investment in shipyard infrastructure, workforce development and supporting supply chains.
“Imposing fees on existing vessels does not address these capacity constraints or provide operators with a practical US-built alternative,” the company said in its submission, signed by president Jeffrey W. Campbell.
The carrier warned that reinstating the fees under Annex III would raise the cost of shipping services to and from the US, with additional expenses likely to be passed through the automotive supply chain to American consumers. US manufacturers would also face higher export costs for vehicles and machinery, potentially undermining their competitiveness in overseas markets.
Siem Car Carriers also warned that the measures could affect the availability of vehicle carrier capacity serving the US. With Chinese vehicle exports increasing competition for vessels in international trades, additional charges on US port calls could encourage operators to deploy ships to alternative markets, subject to existing contractual commitments. This could reduce service frequency and available capacity for US imports and exports, with knock-on effects for ports, terminal operators and inland transport providers, the company added. Subscribe to gain access to all news Already have a subscription? Log in.
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