LONDON: The United States is planning to charge fees for docking at US ports on any ship that is part of a fleet that includes Chinese-built or Chinese-flagged vessels and will push allies to act similarly or face retaliation, a draft executive order stated.
The administration of US President Donald Trump is drafting the executive order in a bid to resuscitate domestic shipbuilding and weaken China’s grip on the global shipping industry.
Addressing China’s growing dominance of the seas and diminishing US naval readiness is a rare point of consensus between US Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
Chinese shipbuilders account for more than 50% of all merchant vessel cargo capacity produced globally each year, up from just 5% in 1999, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
That gain came at the expense of shipbuilders in Japan and South Korea. US shipbuilding peaked in the 1970s and now accounts for a sliver of the industry output.
The draft executive order, dated February 27 and reviewed by Reuters on Thursday, proposes fees should be imposed on any vessel that enters a US port, “regardless of where it was built or flagged, if that vessel is part of a fleet that includes vessels built or flagged in the PRC (People’s Republic of China).”
The US administration and Chinese officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
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