The new U.S. administration plans to impose fees on Chinese-built vessels entering U.S. ports. London Office Co-Managing Partner William Cecil spoke with The Times about the disruption that is likely to occur in the industry and how companies may respond to the fees.
Read an excerpt below:
William Cecil, the co-managing partner of Haynes Boone’s London office, who has long experience in the shipping industry at the law firm, said: “What we think is likely to happen is that there will be a period of disruption because ships that will be subject to that additional port fee will be reassigned to other routes.
“You’re going to have a smaller pool of ships that can profitably trade to the US because they have no Chinese connections. The likelihood is that those ships will be able to demand a premium because they can trade anywhere in the world, including the US. The other ships will go on to other trades that don’t include the US. It’s likely to result simply in additional freight rates.” …
At the same time, separate analyses by Haynes Boone and Nick Wood, a ship broker at Affinity Shipping, suggest that the US is unlikely to be able to pick up the new demand for non-Chinese ships if the measures are enacted.
