China has announced a one‑year suspension of “special port fees” on U.S. vessels, coinciding with the United States’ pause on levies targeting Chinese ships. The move is part of a fragile trade truce between the two superpowers, which have been locked in a volatile trade and tariff war for months. The suspension, which applies to ships operated by or built in the United States that visit Chinese ports, took effect at 13:01 local time on Monday.
Trade tensions between the United States and China had driven duties to prohibitive triple‑digit levels, hampering commerce between the world’s two largest economies and disrupting global supply chains. After a meeting between Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump in South Korea last month, both countries agreed to roll back some punitive measures.
The U.S. shipbuilding industry, once dominant after World War II, has declined sharply and now accounts for only 0.1 % of global output. The sector is now dominated by Asia, with China building nearly half of all launched ships, followed by South Korea and Japan.
In a separate action, Beijing announced the suspension of sanctions against U.S. subsidiaries of Hanwha Ocean, one of South Korea’s largest shipbuilders. The year‑long suspension, effective from November 10, is linked to the U.S. halting the port fees it had levied on Chinese‑built and operated ships. China had imposed sanctions on five U.S. subsidiaries of Hanwha in October, accusing them of supporting a U.S. government investigation that deemed Beijing’s dominance of the shipbuilding industry unreasonable. The Chinese commerce ministry said the country looks forward to the United States continuing to meet China halfway and jointly safeguarding fair competition in the global shipping and shipbuilding market.
Beijing also added more than a dozen fentanyl precursors to a list of controlled exports to the United States, Mexico, and Canada, aiming to address Washington’s concerns about the flow of deadly chemicals that fuel the U.S. drug crisis. These steps are the latest signs of a thaw in economic ties since the Xi‑Trump meeting.
Additionally, China has extended the suspension of extra tariffs on U.S. goods for one year, keeping them at 10 %, and has suspended some tariffs on soybeans and other U.S. agricultural products. The country has also lifted an export ban on certain metals essential for modern technology and agreed to halt restrictions on the export of rare‑earth technology for one year.
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