China Ship-Fee Truce Ends Nov 9: What Comes Back

A per-ton fee on China-linked vessels has sat at zero for nearly a year. The suspension expires in about seven weeks, there's no extension deal yet, and how much reaches your freight bill depends on which ships you're actually on.

Since November 10, 2025, a set of Section 301 maritime fees on China-linked vessels entering U.S. ports has been suspended, sitting at $0. That suspension is scheduled to expire at 11:59 p.m. Eastern on November 9, 2026, roughly seven weeks from now. As of mid-September, the U.S. and China had not announced an extension, and some U.S. lawmakers are pushing to bring the fees back. Unless USTR extends or modifies the action first, the underlying fee regime is scheduled to become operative again on November 10.

For ocean shippers, the useful question is not simply whether the fees return. It is which vessels are exposed, at what rate under the rules in force that day, and how much of the cost carriers pass through to cargo.

What is actually suspended

The fees come from USTR's April 17, 2025 Section 301 action targeting China's dominance in maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding, published in the Federal Register at 90 FR 17114. It created three vessel-fee tracks, and only one applies to any given vessel.

Annex I — Chinese owners or operators. Charged on net tonnage against any vessel owned or operated by an entity of China. The schedule began at $50/NT on October 14, 2025, and was set to rise to $80/NT in April 2026, then $110/NT in 2027 and $140/NT in 2028. Assessed once per rotation (a string of U.S. port calls), capped at five assessments per vessel per calendar year.

Annex II — Chinese-built vessels. This can apply even when the vessel is not Chinese-owned or operated. The fee is the higher of a net-tonnage rate or a per-container rate, starting at $18/NT or $120 per container and scheduled to climb toward $33/NT or $250 per container by April 2028, subject to exemptions.

Annex III — foreign-built vehicle carriers. This is where simplified explanations go wrong: it is not limited to Chinese-built ships. It covers certain non-U.S.-built vehicle carriers, including roll-on/roll-off vessels. Under the October 16, 2025 modification, USTR changed the basis from Car Equivalent Unit (CEU) capacity to net tonnage, setting the fee at $46 per net ton effective October 14, 2025, and exempting vessels in the Maritime Security Program. (If you have seen "$150 per CEU," that was the original April structure the October notice replaced.)

Why the November 9 date matters

USTR suspended the responsive actions from 12:01 a.m. Eastern on November 10, 2025 through 11:59 p.m. Eastern on November 9, 2026, formalized in a Federal Register Notice of Modification on November 13, 2025. During that window, no party accrues liability under Annexes I, II, or III. That is a suspension, not a repeal. Unless USTR modifies, extends, or otherwise changes the policy before the deadline, the underlying schedule is set to become operative again after the suspension ends.

The suspension was part of the November 1, 2025 understanding between Presidents Trump and Xi, and it cut both ways: China paused the reciprocal Special Port Fees it had placed on U.S.-linked vessels. If Washington revives its fees, Beijing has signaled it will reinstate its own.

What about LNG?

Annex IV is different. The LNG-carriage restrictions had not yet taken effect when the November 2025 suspension was issued, and USTR stated the suspension did not affect them. They remain scheduled to begin in 2028 unless later modified.

How it reaches your invoice

The legal fee sits on the vessel operator, not the importer. That does not mean you pay the exact amount. What reaches your freight cost depends on the commercial response: pass-through surcharges, higher base rates, vessel substitutions, service or routing changes, or partial absorption. During the short window when the fees were live, between October 14 and November 10, 2025, industry reporting estimated that one China United Lines vessel incurred roughly $1.3 million for a single U.S. port call. Treat that as an illustration of potential exposure, not a standard charge for every China-linked ship.

What shippers should do now Map the vessels behind your services. Don't screen only the carrier's nationality. Check owner, operator, build country, and vessel type, since operator nationality alone triggers Annex I. Review your carrier contracts. Look for dormant clauses on U.S. port fees, Section 301 charges, or government-imposed surcharges that could reactivate on November 10. Model multiple scenarios. Don't assume the October 2025 starting rates are what would apply after November 9. The schedules have already been modified since 2025, and USTR could modify the action again before the deadline. Ask carriers for their contingency plans. The legal liability may sit with the operator, but the carrier's commercial response is what determines your cost. Monitor the primary sources. USTR docket USTR-2025-0274, the Federal Register, and CBP's Cargo Systems Messaging Service are where a resumption or extension will actually appear.

The fees are not being collected today, but they have not been repealed either. November 9 is not a new tariff date; it is the end of a temporary suspension. For shippers, that distinction is the whole game. The question is not just "will the fee come back?" It is "which vessels will be exposed, under what rules on November 10, and how much of that reaches the freight bill?"

This article is informational and is not legal, customs, or financial advice. Rules and commercial surcharges can change. Confirm the applicable treatment with your carrier, customs broker, or trade counsel before making routing or contracting decisions.

SOURCES:

Federal Register / USTR (primaria) — Notice of Action, Section 301 maritime (23 abr. 2025), 90 FR 17114: acción original y estructura de anexos: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/23/2025-06927/notice-of-action-and-proposed-action-in-section-301-investigation-of-chinas-targeting-the-maritime Federal Register / USTR (primaria) — Notice of Modification (16 oct. 2025): Anexo III cambia de CEU a tonelada neta ($46/NT), exención MSP, aranceles 100% a grúas STS: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/10/16/2025-19568/notice-of-modification-and-proposed-modification-of-section-301-action-chinas-targeting-of-the Federal Register / USTR (primaria) — Notice of Modification (13 nov. 2025): suspensión de un año hasta el 9 nov. 2026: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/11/13/2025-19873/notice-of-modification-of-section-301-action-chinas-targeting-of-the-maritime-logistics-and Sourcing Journal (WWD) (secundaria, estado actual) — sin acuerdo de extensión; deadline 9 nov.; $1.3M de China United Lines: https://wwd.com/sourcing-journal/logistics/us-china-port-docking-fees-ocean-carriers-november-9-ustr-1239174079/ National Law Review (secundaria, confirma $46/NT vs. $150 CEU previo): https://natlawreview.com/article/ustr-issues-modification-section-301-action