TTMA head: Proposed US tax on Chinese ships will push up prices

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DALE PARSON, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA), says if US President Donald Trump does impose berthing fees on Chinese-owned and Chinese-built ships, “the import fees to all cargo berthed at US ports will attract 10 to 15 per cent cost of goods berthed entering the US or transhipped from the US to other destinations, including Trinidad.”

He made the comment to Sunday Newsday via WhatsApp in response to a question about the effect the proposed increase in taxes on Chinese-made ships is likely to have on the cost of food and other imports.

But Parson referred Newsday to a Reuters article which reported sources as saying that the Trump administration had deferred its position owing to pushback from US manufacturers and importers.

The article, published on April 9, reported six sources as saying that the administration is considering softening its proposed fee on China-linked ships visiting US ports after a “flood of negative feedback from industries that said the idea could be “economically devastating.”

The article said among the changes under consideration are delayed implementation and new fee structures designed to reduce the overall cost of visiting Chinese vessels.

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It added the White House and the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), the government department involved in drafting the proposal, did not respond to requests for comment.

But the article quoted US Trade representative Jamieson Greer as telling a US Senate Finance Committee hearing on April 9, “Not all of the agency’s proposed multi-million fees for Chinese-built ships to dock at US ports will be implemented and may not be cumulative.”

The USTR, the article said, has proposed fees that could top US$3 million per US port call for China-built or linked vessels.

Its proposal came after it completed an investigation into China’s maritime sector and development plans that began in April 2024, the article said.

It said the Trump administration has argued that fees would curb China’s growing commercial and military dominance on the high seas and promote the US domestic maritime industry.

On April 2, the administration announced a ten per cent reciprocal tariff on TT’s imports to the US. It also proposed taxation for Chinese-built vessels entering US ports. TT is among 180 countries on which the tariff was imposed.

Prime Minister Stuart Young has vowed to negotiate with the Trump administration.

On April 3, Trade and Industry Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon held preliminary discussions with US government officials concerning the tariffs.

Young said during the talks, certain assessments were made on some of TT’s exports. But he was pleased that petroleum and LNG would not attract tariffs from the US.

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He said the ministry will continue to do preliminary work with the US Embassy concerning the tariff.