Measures under the Maritime Sectors Survey, logistics and shipbuilding companies of China that were presented on the last week by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) ( of 18 April 2025) "are decidedly discriminatory, violate international trade rules and the maritime transport between China and the United States and constitute a typical example of unilateralism and protectionism". He denounced him the China Shipowners' Association (CSA), specifying that, 'a on behalf of all Chinese shipowners, firmly contests, protests formally and strongly opposes the US accusations that - highlighted the Chinese shipowners' association - are based on on false facts and prejudices and condemns the abuse of tools protectionist trade to disrupt market order maritime transport'.

CSA pointed out that "the flourishing development of the China's international shipping is the result growth in global trade and demand-side relationships and offer, benefiting from adherence to market principles and international standards, respect for fair competition and increasing openness, without ever adopting policies Discriminatory. Chinese shipowners strictly comply with the international trade rules, providing strong support efficient operation of the global supply chain and offering stable and reliable logistics services for the import and export nations, including the United States. The United States - complained the shipowners' association - believe that the competitiveness of Chinese companies derives from the so-called "unfair policies", ignoring the development history and objective facts of the industry shipbuilding and maritime transport worldwide from the World War II onwards, and completely ignoring the efforts of the of the Chinese shipbuilding industry in terms of technological innovation, cost control and quality of service".

"The unilateral actions of the United States - continues the complaint of the China Shipowners' Association - have seriously undermined the rules of international trade, upset the order of the global shipping market, increased the costs of logistics and, ultimately, harmed the interests of the American shippers, American import-export companies and consumers. The abuse of protectionist instruments commercial sooner or later will backfire on those who apply them. Their short-sighted policies will not only fail to solve their industrial problems, but will backfire on the economy and against the interests of the consumers!"

The Chinese shipowners' association has concluded by strongly urging the United States 'to stop investigations and actions based on political bias, to revoke all discriminatory measures, to respect strictly the rules of international trade and the laws of market, and to avoid causing further serious damage to the normal development of maritime, logistics and shipbuilding industries global naval forces" and specified that "China Shipowners' Association will continue to represent all stakeholders Chinese shipowners, to maintain an open and collaborative, to actively communicate with all parties interested, including the United States, in adapting to the trend of development of the international maritime sector and to cooperate for maintaining the sustainable prosperity and development of the global economic trade".

That the measures announced by the government administration against Chinese ships will backfire on the same United States also considers it, among numerous other associations of World Shipping Council (WSC), the representing the main shipping companies containerized world, according to which, "such measures could Undermining American trade, hurting U.S. producers and weaken efforts to strengthen the maritime industry national team'. "Revitalising the maritime sector - noted the president and CEO of the WSC, Joe Kramek - is an important and widely shared goal, which requires a long-term legislative and industrial strategy". Referring to measures to revitalise the maritime industry announced in recent days by Donald Trump, respect to which, to tell the truth, the WSC itself had already expressed considerable concerns, Kramek pointed out that the WSC had "Welcomed the vision outlined in the Executive Order of the President, which proposes targeted initiatives to strengthen the shipbuilding, ports and supply chain resilience of the United States. Unfortunately - he specified - the tariff regime announced by the USTR is a step in the wrong direction, as it will increase prices for consumers, will weaken US trade and contribute well to little to revitalize the U.S. shipping industry."

The World Shipping Council has clarified what are, in particular, their perplexities about the effect of the new US port fees applied to Chinese ships, starting from the retroactivity of these taxes: "The application of taxes to ships already in the water - explained the shipowners' association - does not offer any support to the shipbuilding industry and, on the contrary, risks damaging American exporters, in particular farmers, in a at a time when global trade is facing significant difficulties. These retroactive sanctions interrupt the long-term investment planning, introducing new costs and unpredictability for companies and American consumers".

The WSC also expressed doubts about the calculation of the amount of port charges based on the net tonnage of the "the structuring of taxes on the basis of the size of the ship, the net tonnage - noted the association - disproportionately penalises larger and efficient transport of essential goods, including components used in US production lines. Almost half of all imports into the United States through the liner shipping is used directly in the national production processes. The increase in the cost of these shipping will affect the supply chain procurement, increasing production costs for companies and, ultimately, for consumers. It will penalize US ports, which have also carried out significant investments to expand its ability to attract and manage the largest container ships engaged in the trade".

The WSC has also expressed concerns about to taxes on car carriers: "the USTR's measures of this week include a new tax, not previously announced, based on capacity in Car Equivalent Units (CEUs) for almost all the car-carrying ships in the world. This arbitrary measure, which affects all ships built abroad, will slow down further U.S. economic growth and increase car prices for American consumers, without however, encourage U.S. maritime investment."

According to the WSC, the measures announced by the USTR raise "significant legal issues, given that taxes proposals seem to extend beyond the authority granted by the U.S. Commercial Law."

The WSC has therefore urged the US administration to reconsider these measures considered counterproductive, "which risk harm U.S. consumers, producers, and farmers without make significant strides towards revitalization of the U.S. maritime industry."

Reiterating that the World Shipping Council is ready to work with the U.S. government and industry stakeholders to find solutions that can really strengthen the sector U.S. Maritime Report, Kramek specified that the exhortation of the association with American policymakers is aimed at to ensure that they pursue "strategies that encourage growth, strengthen supply chain resilience and avoid actions that risk harming exporters, producers and American consumers at a time when global trade is already under pressure."