Industry News And Updates:
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Story 1)  USTR Update on Chinese Built/Owned/Operates Vessels - October 14, 2025 Commencement - September 28th 2025

Story 2)  California's Emergency Ballast Water Management rule in Effect - July 17th 2025

Story 3)  US to Hit Chinese Ships with Hefty Port Fees - February 24th 2025

Story 4) West Sacramento Tidal Station Update January 1st 2025 - November 06, 2024

Story 5)  Deal Reached between VTEA and Grain Workers Union - September 27th, 2024

USTR Update on Chinese Built/Owned/Operates Vessels - October 14, 2025 Commencement

Full Detail PDF

Fm: General Steamship Corp - Mill Valley, CA

Good day all,

As the October 14, 2025 commencement date of the new USTR fees for Chinese built/owned/operated vessels approaches, we would like to provide you the latest summary of information as we understand it. There are still unfortunately many unanswered questions at this time, but below is our best summation of available information to date. Following is subject to change as new information is published by USTR/CBP, which we do expect to receive.

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For most dry/liquid bulk and breakbulk carriers, there are two annexes in play with the new USTR regulations. Annex 1 and 2. Fee schedules for both are detailed below. We understand that if vessel qualifies for fees under annex 1, then it is exempt from fees under annex 2. If vessel does not qualify under annex 1, then it still may qualify under annex 2. Annex 1 takes priority. We will not have a situation where fees under both annexes apply, it will be one or the other or neither.

Annex I Fee on Chinese Vessel Owners / Operators

What it is: A fee on any vessel entering a U.S. port that is owned or operated by a Chinese entity (including mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau) as defined in Annex I. Taiwan is not included.

VESSEL OWNER WILL BE DETERMINED BY SHIP’S REGISTRY, AND VESSEL OPERATOR WILL BE DETERMINED BY U.S. COFR (CERTIFICATE OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY) PER LATEST INFORMATION FROM CBP. IF EITHER OF THOSE ENTITIES ARE CHINESE COMPANIES, THEN THE FEES IN ANNEX 1 WILL APPLY.

Fee Schedule (net tonnage basis):

Effective Date / Fee per Net Ton (USD)
Until Oct 13, 2025 (180-day grace period) - $0
Oct 14, 2025 - $50
April 17, 2026 - $80
April 17, 2027 - $110
April 17, 2028 - $140

Caps/Limits:

• -Max five fee assessments per vessel per year under Annex I.
• -For vessels making multiple U.S. Port entries before heading to a foreign destination (i.e. multiple U.S port calls in one voyage or "rotation" or string), the fee is assessed one time per rotation

• -A fee per net tonnage, or
• -A fee per container discharged (for containerized cargo)

• -Also capped at five assessments per vessel per year.
• -Assessed per rotation / string of U.S. port calls (same as Annex I) when vessel makes multiple U.S. port calls before heading abroad, only charged at first port.

• 1. Vessels enrolled in key U.S. maritime security / sealift / cable programes, e.g.:
• -Maritime Security Program (MSP)
• -Tanker Security Program (TSP)
• -Cable Security Program (CSP)
• -The Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement (VISA) or equivalents.
• 2.Vessels arriving empty or in ballast(i.e. without cargo)
• 3.Size / Capacity Thresholds: Chinese-built vessels under certain size (or cargo capacity) are exempt. Specifically:
• -Container Ships 4,000 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) or less
• -Breakbulk or general cargo vessels with deadweight tonnage ≤ 55,000 DWT
• -Individual bulk capacity limit of 80,000 DWT or less for bulkers (ships carrying loose unpackaged goods like grain, coal, etc.)
• 4.Vessels engaged in short-sea shipping:voyages under a certain distance from U.S. ports (less than 2,000 nautical miles for vessels entering the continental U.S.) are exempt.
• 5.Certain U.S.-owned vessels or U.S-flagged vessels(or vessels owned by U.S. companies) even if built in China, when enrolled in those U.S. maritime programs.
• 6.Specialized export vessels- certain kinds of specialized vessels (not defined in full detail in all summaries, but referenced) are exempt.
• 7.U.S. government cargois not subject to these fees.

California’s Emergency Ballast Water Management Rule in Effect

Fm: General Steamship Corp - Stockton, CA

Good day all,

We would like to draw your attention to below emergency ruling that went into effect on June 18th for ballast discharges into California fresh water ports. In addition to normal ballast water treatment requirements, the state is now also mandating a ballast exchange IN ADDITION TO treatment, when the source of the ballast water is a location with salinity less than 18 parts per thousand.

We asked for an recevied clarification on several points:

This new requirement only applies to the few vessels where all three of these categories are true:

• -Arriving in Stockton, Sacramento, or Carquinez (Port of Rodeo and eastward)
• -Discharging ballast water at that arrival port
• -Source water came from location with salinity less than 18 parts per thousand

US to Hit Chinese Ships with Hefty Port Fees

To: All Vessel Owners/Operators/Charterers Calling U.S. Ports

Good day all,

Reference is made to following Wall Street Journal article detailing plans for new fees to be imposed on Chinese built vessels calling the United States. We are not yet certain what these fees will actually look like, or if they will be enacted in their entirety. We are investigating this further with industry resources on our end, and will provide prompt updates once available.

///quote///

US to Hit Chinese Ships with Hefty Port Fees Proposal would hit shipping giants Cosco and Maersk with millions in new fees to enter U.S. ports
By Costas Paris Following Feb. 24, 2025 7:00 am ET

Key Points What's This?
- The U.S. plans to impose hefty fees on Chinese shipping companies and Chinese-built vessels entering U.S. ports, escalating the trade war beyond tariffs.
- The fees could significantly increase costs for U.S. importers and exporters, as Chinese shipyards account for over half of the cargo ships built globally.
- The proposal also mandates that a certain amount of U.S. exports be moved on U.S.-flagged and U.S.-built vessels, potentially restricting access for non-U.S. shipping companies.

The U.S. trade war with China is escalating beyond tariffs with a plan by the Trump administration to impose steep fees on Chinese shipping companies and any Chinese-built vessels that enter U.S. ports. The proposal, unveiled on Friday by the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, would impose millions of dollars in new fees each time one of these vessels enters a U.S. port, adding costs that would likely be passed down to U.S. importers and exporters through higher freight rates. Chinese shipyards accounted for more than half of the cargo ships, tankers and other ocean vessels that were built in 2023 to ferry goods across the seas for everyone from Amazon to Volkswagen, as well as U.S. farmers and energy producers. The move would directly hit Chinese shipping and logistics behemoth Cosco, the world’s biggest shipping company in terms of capacity. Through large state-owned companies such as Cosco, China operated about 19% of the world’s commercial fleet as of January 2024, according to the U.S. government. The proposed fees would also affect large non-Chinese companies such as Maersk and MSC, who have purchased scores of vessels from China’s busy shipyards. Big boxships make multiple port calls to U.S. ports, substantially multiplying the fees. Cosco, Maersk and MSC didn’t respond to requests for comment. The proposal is open to public comments until a March 24 hearing, when the Trump administration will decide whether the new fees will be imposed. The plan is in response to a U.S. probe that began under President Joe Biden in March 2024. The U.S. Trade Representative determined in January that China was involved in unfair trade practices in the maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors. The proposed fees follow the Trump White House’s decision earlier this month to impose 10% tariffs on Chinese imports on top of tariffs Trump enacted in his first term.

Shipowners and analysts are trying to digest the proposal. Chinese-built ships face fees of up to $1 million for each U.S. port call based on the size of a company’s Chinese fleet, even those vessels that don’t sail to the U.S. There would be a second fee of up to $1 million based on how much of a company’s future ship orders come from Chinese shipyards. And for Chinese-owned operators like Cosco, there would be an additional fee of up to $1 million for each U.S. port call based on the ship’s size. “For containerships their costs will be at least 10 times higher than existing charges and affect American importers, exporters and consumers,” said Lars Jensen, chief executive of Demark-based Vespucci Maritime, who advises several top shipping lines. “I hope that the public debate will avert this madness.” The proposal also mandates that a certain amount of U.S. exports are moved on U.S.-flagged and U.S.-built vessels. It seeks to restrict 1% of U.S. exports this year to vessels run by U.S. operators. The restriction would increase over time so that in seven years, 15% of exports would need to move on U.S.-flagged vessels, including 5% on U.S.-built vessels. The U.S. no longer produces any significant number of commercial oceangoing ships. Several shipyards have only one big customer, the U.S. Navy, and those yards are often battling backlogs, worker shortages and cost overruns. Most of the commercial ships that China doesn’t produce these days come from South Korea or Japan.

With Best Regards,
Evan Jones / Chief Operating Officer

West Sacramento Tidal Station Update - January 1st 2025 Draft Reduction

To: All Vessel Owners/Operators/Charterers/Receivers Calling the Port of West Sacramento, CA
Re: West Sacramento Tidal Station Update

Good day all,

As most of you are aware, the Port of West Sacramento will be experiencing a reduction in maximum draft come January 1, 2025, as pilots and stakeholders eagerly await the installation of a new NOAA approved tidal station. This new station will allow pilots to accurately measure water levers in the port on any given day, in addition to providing forecasted maximum arrival drafts many weeks in advance that we are all accustomed to receiving. The pilots have informed all industry stakeholders that they will be reducing the controlling depth to 27.3 feet fresh water as of January 1, 2025, until such time that the new tide station is installed AND operational. We wish to provide the following update.

We met with the pilots and port on Nov 5 to discuss updates on this project. The good news is the Port of West Sacramento has secured and signed an agreement with a contractor to complete this work. The not so good news is that the port advises likely timeline for installation is now “June to July 2025 range.” This is far later than the previously reported Q1 2025 timeframe. The port assures us that this is the fastest timeline they can presently accomplish same. The NOAA representative on the line also stated that it will take a minimum of 30 days after installation for start-up and diagnostic testing to be completed, before the station can be used in any real capacity. Thus we could be looking at July/August 2025 range before the pilots have any reliable data that will allow them to consider raising the draft limit back to its normal controlling depth of 29.1 feet. I would like to be very clear that we do not yet know with certainty what the pilot’s policy on draft will be once the new station is operational. The pilots have stated they will need several months of data collection after operational, before they can calculate the predicted maximum arrival draft tables that we currently receive 6 weeks ahead of time. Yet they have also stated that they will be able to confirm water depth and safe maximum arrival drafts in real time once the station is operational, and will be able to confirm safe transit to Sacramento on any given date of transit. I would presume this to mean that normal transits of 29.4 feet will be acceptable once the station is operational, subject to final confirmation on the date of transit, however, this is only my presumption. The pilots have not yet stated their final position in this regard. For this reason, we are currently unable to guarantee any draft limit on any given date at this time and owners/charterers/receivers should proceed as such when booking cargoes for 2025. The only fact we know at present, is that the draft will be reduced to 27.3 feet on January 1, 2025, until further notice.

We will continue to keep in contact with the pilots and the port and keep all stakeholders closely informed. If you have any questions in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact this office.

As a reminder, this matter only impacts the Port of West Sacramento. The Port of Stockton, CA is not impacted, and will continue operations as normal.

With Best Regards,
Evan Jones / Chief Operating Officer
stkops@gensteam.com

Deal reached between VTEA and Grain Workers Union

Good day,

Please find below positive news RE: Vancouver Grain Workers Strike Courtesy of Wheelhouse Shipping Co.

The Vancouver Terminal Elevators Association (VTEA) and the Grain Workers Union (GWU) local 333 have settled on terms for a new collective agreement that will run through to December 31, 2027. The agreement was reached through work completed under the guidance of Mr. Peter Simpson, the Director General of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). Terminals are expected to reopen as early as the dayshift tomorrow, September 28th. The new agreement is subject to a ratification vote by October 4, 2024.

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