BEIJING: 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. –The Daily Mail-Global Times news exchange item
