Ford Pans Trump Admin Plan To Hike Port Fees On Cargo Ships

Ford has thus far largely managed to avoid catastrophe in regard to existing and looming tariffs imposed on various imported materials, parts, and automobiles by President Donald Trump, who has been using those levies as leverage to reach new trade deals with most countries the U.S. does business with. That process is far from over, however, and we’ve seen Ford get pretty creative in terms of ways that it can sidestep those tariffs in more ways than one. However, The Blue Oval is a bit frustrated with Trump’s latest plan.

According to Financial Times, Ford is joining a host of other automakers and shipowners asking the Trump administration to reconsider plans to impose steep new port fees on ships that transport vehicles to the U.S. Originally, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) proposed adding a $150 fee per vehicle on units arriving at port that aren’t built in the U.S., but backed down from that plan following backlash from the industry. Now, it’s proposing tacking on a fee of $14 per net ton starting this October, which could add around $600k to the cost of each ship coming into port, according to the Alliance for American Manufacturing.

“The proposed fees are retroactive, uncapped, and will not remedy the behavior the USTR wants to curb,” said Joe Kramek, chief executive of the World Shipping Council, the trade association for the international industry. Ford added that the U.S. should “target only Chinese-built vehicle carriers,” adding that targeting all vessels, no matter who owns them, “unduly burdens Ford and other U.S. automakers that rely on non-Chinese built vehicle carriers.”

The purpose of these new port fees is to fight China’s ever-growing dominance in the world of cargo ship transport, according to the Trump administration, as well as a way to revitalize a fledgling U.S. shipbuilding industry.