The American Petroleum Institute (API) is urging the Trump administration to reconsider fees on Chinese-built ships docked at U.S. ports, with the gas and oil coalition claiming that the liquid natural gas industry has no way of complying with the new requirements.

Starting in mid-October, Chinese-owned or operated vessels calling U.S. ports will be charged $50 per net ton, with that fee rising to $140 per net ton by April 2028. Chinese-built vessels will initially be charged $18 per net ton or $120 per container (whichever is higher), before the fee increases to $33 per net ton or $250 per container in three years. For a typical Cosco-owned post-Panamax containership of 13,000 TEUs, that would mean a fee of around $780,000.

Starting on April 17, 2029, 1% of LNG exports must also be carried on U.S. flagged, built and operated vessels, with incremental increases of up to 15% each year through 2047.

In a late-April letter to the Trump administration reported on by Financial Times, the API said that the fees risk counteracting "the significant progress" of the U.S. LNG industry, given that there are currently no U.S.-built vessels that can transport LNG, nor is there enough surplus capacity at U.S. shipyards to build LNG carriers by the 2029 deadline. Center for LNG executive director Charlie Riedl also warned that the fees could raise costs for global buyers, and threaten the United States' position as the world's leading LNG exporter.

A range of other industries have shared the API's concerns over the impacts the port fees will have on U.S. businesses. The Agriculture Transportation Coalition has argued that the requirements will make American agricultural exports "unaffordable and noncompetitive in global markets," while a joint report from more than 30 trade groups claims that the fees "would result in net losses for the U.S. economy, U.S. trade, and most of the U.S. shipbuilding supply chain." 

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"The negative effects would ripple through supply chains, affecting manufacturers, importers, retailers and other stakeholders like wholesale and retail trade, hospitality and consumer services industries,” says the authors of the report, which includes sponsors from the National Retail Federation and Gemini Shippers Association among others.