A year-long suspension of tit-for-tat port fees between the United States and China will take effect next Monday, according to a release from the White House, marking a major breakthrough in global trade flows and offering a potential boost to bulk shipping markets.
The truce forms part of a sweeping trade and economic deal reached last week between US president Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping during Trump’s visit to South Korea. The agreement ends months of maritime friction and tariff retaliation that had slowed cargo movements between the two nations’ ports. The fallout between the world’s two largest economies saw two of Hong Kong’s largest shipowners – Pacific Basin and Seaspan – relocate to Singapore in recent weeks to avoid the aggressive American fees.
China has agreed to halt all retaliatory port and tariff measures alongside a commitment to resume large-scale purchases of American agricultural goods — including at least 12m tonnes of soybeans before year-end, and 25m tonnes annually through 2028, something expected to deliver an immediate uplift for panamax and supramax bulker markets. Tariffs on Chinese goods will also ease slightly, with overall coverage dropping from 57% to 47%.
Analysts at broker Braemar suggested the trade truce should bring some breathing space and allow operators to plan with a little more confidence. “Still, in the current geopolitical climate, sudden U-turns are hardly uncommon, and a one-year truce feels more like a tactical pause than a lasting peace,” Braemar cautioned, a point of view shared by Emily Stausbøll, senior shipping analyst at Xeneta, a container freight rate platform.
“Once again we see trade used as a weapon in geopolitical wars,” Stausbøll said in a note to clients, adding: “US Trade Representative port fees have been paused without any progress being made on the issue that was nominally cited as the reason they were needed – strengthening US shipbuilding.”
Stausbøll argued that no one can say with any degree of certainty what the situation will be when the truce expires – or even if the agreement lasts the full 12 months.
