The deal struck by the US and China to pause reciprocal port fees for one year starting Monday has generally been welcomed by shipping, agricultural and manufacturing interests as well as port industry players, the US Trade Representative said, although the move has been criticized by labor unions.

The USTR said in a statement Sunday it received 73 responses during a 48-hour comment period it held last Thursday and Friday to garner feedback from the pause in port fees and tariffs targeting China.

“Many [respondents] noted that suspension of the action would lower shipping costs and avoid commercial disruption,” the USTR said, adding the pause would provide an opportunity for the US to negotiate with China “on the issues raised in this investigation and permit additional time to find solutions to increase investment in US shipbuilding.”

The USTR also confirmed in its statement that planned 100% tariffs on China-built ship-to-shore cranes and other cargo handling equipment, due to take effect Monday, have also been suspended for a year.

It said it is still accepting comments until Tuesday on proposals to impose tariffs of up to 150% on certain cargo handling equipment produced in China, including rubber tire gantry cranes and related components. But any action is likely to be stayed in the wake of the broad trade deal announced Oct. 30 between Washington and Beijing.

Highlighting the advantages of the port fee suspension, Joe Kramek, president and CEO of the Washington, DC-based World Shipping Council, said the pause would support the "continued use of US small and medium-sized ports, and contribute to lower costs for US farmers and manufacturers who rely on ocean liner transportation to move $335 billion in American exports each year."

Kramek was one of several respondents to call for the USTR to make the suspension permanent.

More than 20 agricultural and farmer groups including cotton, citrus, almond, potato and dairy producers welcomed the port fee and tariff freeze, pointing out their ability to compete overseas would be otherwise undercut.

“Additional costs from port fees or equipment tariffs would directly harm US farmers and exporters, reduce export opportunities and weaken rural economies that depend heavily on agricultural trade,” USA Pulses CEO Tim McGreevy said in the group’s submission.

He also recommended agriculture’s “complete exemption from all related Section 301 fees, including port fees, vessel sourcing requirements, and tariffs on critical port equipment and components.”

China’s Transport Ministry, meanwhile, confirmed it had suspended its reciprocal port fees on US-linked ships from 1 p.m. local time Monday. The measure applies to US-owned, -operated, -flagged or -controlled ships.

Unions unhappy

Not all those responding to the USTR welcomed the US pause in port fees, with shipyard-related unions saying US workers will be “pushed aside” by the decision.

Suspending the port fee and related action “will continue to give China a free pass on its predatory behavior and will have far-reaching negative consequences as we attempt to restore America’s maritime sector,” four unions, including the United Steel Workers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, said in a joint submission.

The groups said there were early signs of a revitalization in US shipbuilding investment since the USTR announced its measures targeting China’s maritime sector last April, while order books at China’s shipyards have “declined at a more significant rate than during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The pause now means US workers “are again being pushed aside, even as new commercial orders — worth billions of dollars — flow back into Chinese shipyards,” the labor groups said.

The unions were among five labor groups that filed a petition with the USTR in March 2024 that led to the USTR’s investigation into China’s dominance in the maritime and shipbuilding sectors, which subsequently resulted in October’s implementation of US port fees — and the reciprocal fees from China.