Key Takeaways for Shippers:
On October 14, 2025, new port fees will be imposed on certain vessels at U.S. ports — which may mean higher costs for importers bringing goods aboard those ships into the U.S.
These arrival fees soon to be imposed by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) are causing a buzz across the transportation industry and the global market. But they're also causing confusion about what the fees are, what they will apply to, and how they will impact shippers.
At Anderson Trucking Service (ATS), we've been helping importers, exporters, and shippers of all types of goods navigate the various costs, tariffs, fees, and requirements of moving freight in the global market for decades.
Our experience with the complexities of international and cross-border supply chains uniquely positions us to help you understand the new USTR port fees and what they'll mean for your bottom line.
In this article, we'll break down the fees and the effect they may have on the transportation industry and supply chains. Let's dive in.
Beginning Oct. 14, 2025, new fees will be imposed upon entry of Chinese-owned, operated, and/or built vessels to a U.S. port. The fee rate will increase annually over a three-year period from 2025 to 2028.
The USTR's definition of "China" in this instance includes the People's Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong, and Macau.
The Section 301 USTR port fee structure, announced in April, sets the fees ("Annexes") at the following rates:
According to the USTR, these new fees are intended to "bolster U.S. shipbuilding" and "eliminate Chinese shipbuilding dominance" by "disincentiviz[ing] the use of Chinese shipping and Chinese-built ships."
A September 2025 report by HSBC Global Investment Research found that:
These percentages help to contextualize the overall reach and impact of these fees on the U.S. market.
There are several exceptions to the annexes, though they are limited. All three annexes have the following exceptions:
There is also a "remission incentive" that applies to Annexes I and II only. Under this incentive, owners and operators of Chinese vessels may have fees suspended for up to three years "if the vessel owner orders and takes delivery of a U.S.-built vessel of equal or greater capacity."
The vessel owner must pay all accumulated fees to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).
While the vessel owners are responsible for writing the check to CBP when the bill comes due, the expectation is that carriers will pass these costs on to shippers — so let's look at that next.
While these new USTR fees may have the intended effect of weakening Chinese shipping companies' hold in U.S. markets by raising operating costs, they will also raise U.S. logistics expenses, which will impact global trade.
To understand how these fees will end up affecting you as a shipper, let's first address how they will cause carriers to change their behaviors (and rates). These shifts will ripple out through the freight market and ultimately shape the fees' impact on your supply chain.
Both the Annex I and Annex II fees could result in millions of dollars of additional costs for maritime carriers — and those costs will only increase over the course of the fees' multi-year ramp-up to full strength.
An example by importer/exporter consultant and technology company BluSpark Global showed that a Chinese-built, 10,000 TEU capacity vessel with four U.S. calls annually delivering 5,000 containers per voyage would incur $4.3 million in fees annually at Annex II's starting rate.
By 2028, that number will have risen to nearly $8 million annually — and that's just the cost for one vessel. For large carriers with multiple vessels on U.S.-bound trade routes, the costs will quickly add up to tens of millions of dollars annually.
Nearly all carriers affected by these fees will attempt to recover by passing the costs onto shippers through surcharges or general rate increases. They may also take other actions to reduce their exposure to the fees, such as:
Each of these strategies may help carriers soften the impact of the fees on their operations, though they do have their limitations.
Many carriers have long relied on numerous Chinese vessels in their fleets, and workarounds to near-U.S. foreign ports will add time, complexity, and cost — not to mention port and rail congestion that will impact the rest of the market.
While some carriers have assured customers they will do everything they can to minimize their fleets' exposure to fees (and therefore the customers' exposure to surcharges and increased base costs), shippers remain wary.
Their cautious instincts may prove them right. Even if carriers delay raising prices to allow shippers to adjust, the fundamental economics of the fees' impact — higher costs that will be passed on — mean shippers will nevertheless have to adjust their cost expectations sooner or later.
As you've undoubtedly gathered, the bottom line is that shippers should expect to pay more for maritime shipping logistics after the USTR port fees take effect in October 2025.
The added cost for shippers may vary widely, but BluSpark estimated:
These additional costs will likely manifest as line-item surcharges or base rate increases. Carriers are signaling "port fee" or "regulatory cost recovery" surcharges are imminent, even if some say they'll try to absorb the costs initially.
In the immediate future, shippers that frequent the Trans-Pacific lanes and certain bulk export strings should expect to see the most pricing friction.
They should also anticipate a run on capacity. As carriers reassign non-Chinese built hulls to U.S. strings to avoid Annex II fees, it will push some Chinese-built vessels to other regions, tightening capacity on U.S. lanes even further beyond fee pass-through.
Given these significant changes to transportation costs and capacity, let's wrap up by looking at other strategies shippers can employ to minimize their exposure to fees.
Shippers will need to work closely with carriers and freight forwarders to develop shipping solutions that can offer both reliable capacity and cost-effectiveness in the wake of Annexes I-III.
Here are some actionable steps you can take to help cushion your supply chain against the impact of the new USTR port fees:
The bottom line? Don't wait for these surcharges to show up on your invoice to act. Start asking questions, adjusting your budgets, and looking at backup plans now, so you're not scrambling once the new fees kick in.
The new USTR port fees going into effect in October 2025 will reshape the cost structure of moving freight into and out of the U.S. by targeting Chinese-owned, operated, or built vessels — as well as all foreign-built vehicle carriers.
While exemptions exist, most importers and exporters should expect higher costs, capacity pressures, and new surcharges as these fees ramp up through 2028.
Understanding how these changes apply to your shipments is the first step toward controlling your bottom line. By mapping your exposure, tightening your contracts, and exploring alternative gateways, you can minimize surprises and keep your supply chain resilient.
If you want to strengthen your planning even further, the next step is knowing which ports matter most. Explore our guide to the 10 busiest U.S. ports in 2025 and how to choose the right one for your freight to learn where your cargo is most likely to land and how choosing strategically can help offset the impact of these new fees.