cnn.com - Dhl global shipments US suspension intl hnk
tariff-free trade provisions for packages from China and Hong Kong.
cnbc.com - Trump administration announces fees on chinese ships docking at US ports
reuters.com - Global shippers await word US plan hit china linked vessels with port fees
cnbc.com - Trade war fallout china freight ship decline begins orders plummet

DHL Express, a division of Germany’s Deutsche Post, said it would suspend global business-to-consumer shipments worth over $800 to individuals in the United States from April 21, as US customs regulatory changes have lengthened clearance.

DHL blamed the halt on new US customs rules which require formal entry processing on all shipments worth over $800. The minimum had been $2,500 until a change on April 5.

DHL said business-to-business shipments would not be suspended but could face delays.\

That came after Hongkong Post said last week it had suspended mail services for goods sent by sea to the United States, accusing the US of “bullying” after Washington canceled

Ocean shipping transports about 80% of global trade - from food and furniture to cement and coal. Industry executives feared virtually every cargo carrier could face steep, stacking fees that would make U.S. export prices unattractive and foist annual import costs of $30 billion on American consumers.
"Ships and shipping are vital to American economic security and the free flow of commerce," U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement. "The Trump administration's actions will begin to reverse Chinese dominance, address threats to the U.S. supply chain, and send a demand signal for U.S.-built ships."

The Trump administration on Thursday announced fees on Chinese-built vessels after a United States Trade Representative investigation by the Biden-Trump administrations found China’s acts, policies and practices were unreasonable and burden or restrict U.S. commerce.

The USTR said China largely achieved its dominance through its increasingly aggressive and specific targeting of these sectors, severely disadvantaging U.S. companies, workers and the U.S. economy.

The fees will be charged once per voyage and not per port, as originally proposed.

At a May 19 hearing, the USTR will discuss proposed tariffs on ship-to-shore cranes, chassis that carry containers and chassis parts. China dominates the manufacture of port cranes, which the USTR plans to hit with a tariff of 100%.

The policy proposal, begun under the Biden administration and culminating in a January report concluded China’s shipbuilding industry had an unfair advantage, would allow the U.S. government to impose steep levies on Chinese-made ships arriving at U.S. ports.

The original proposal called for a service fee of up to $1 million to be charged on each Chinese-owned operators (such as Cosco). The original proposal also said that for non-Chinese-owned ocean carriers with fleets containing Chinese-built vessels, the service fee would be up to $1.5 million for each U.S. port of call.
The revisions tackle major concerns voiced in a tsunami of opposition from the global maritime industry, including domestic port and vessel operators as well as U.S. shippers of everything from coal and corn to bananas and cement.

They grant some requested carve-outs, while phasing in fees that reflect the fact U.S. shipbuilders, which turn out about five vessels annually, will need years to compete with China's output of more than 1,700 a year.

The USTR exempted ships that ferry goods between domestic ports as well as from those ports to Caribbean islands and U.S. territories. Both American and Canadian vessels that call at Great Lakes ports have also won a reprieve.

U.S. importers are being notified of an increase in canceled sailings by freight ships out of China as ocean carriers try to balance the pullback in orders resulting from President Trump’s tariffs and the escalation of tensions in the trade war.

A total of 80 blank, or canceled, sailings out of China have been recorded by freight company HLS Group. It wrote in a recent note to clients that with the trade war between China and the U.S. leading to a demand plummet, carriers have started to suspend or adjust transpacific services.

Major ocean freight alliance ONE has “suspended until further notice” a route it had previously been planning to bring back in May, which would include ports of Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai, Pusan, Vancouver, and Tacoma. Meanwhile, an existing route is planning to cancel its port call at Wilmington, North Carolina.

Jeff