A proposed $1 million per ship fee on Chinese manufactured transport ships, will have serious repercussions affecting coal exports around the world.
In the waning days of the Biden Administration, five national labor unions filed a petition with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 requesting an investigation into the acts, policies, and practices of China in the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors.. Section 301 allows the United States to respond to unreasonable or discriminatory foreign government practices that burden or restrict U.S. commerce. Arguing that the “American commercial shipbuilding industry is a shell of its former self,” the petition stated that the number of commercial shipyards in the United States had significantly decreased, jobs had been lost, and U.S. amounted to only a fraction of one percent of the world’s commercial vessels. The petition alleged that China, as the world’s largest shipbuilding nation, has “seized market share, suppressed prices, and created a worldwide network of ports and logistics infrastructure that threaten to discriminate against U.S. ships and shipping companies, disrupt supply chains, and undermine vital national security interests.” As of 2025, Chinese manufacturers accounted for more than 50 percent of the world's transport ship builds.