Freight Rate Weekly: US Port Fee Pause Ends Nov 9: What Lands on Your Bill
Freight Rate Weekly: US Port Fee Pause Ends Nov 9: What Lands on Your Bill
Executive Summary
The pause on US Section 301 port fees for Chinese-built ships expires on Nov 9 2026. Here is what that does to your US-bound boxes.
| 32% |
| 21% |
| 29% |
| 30% |
| 30 points |
Overview
Put simply, this fee is not charged by your carrier. It is charged by US Customs when the vessel calls at a US port, and it reaches you through the surcharge column. Chinese owners and operators start at USD 50 per net ton. Here's the thing: a Chinese-built ship run by a non-Chinese carrier still pays USD 18 per net ton, or USD 120 per discharged container (whichever the operator picks). Same money, different nameplate.
The pause began on Nov 10 2025 and runs for one year.
It ends on Nov 9 2026. Two hundred and nine trade associations wrote to USTR on Sep 23 2026 asking for an extension. Nothing has been approved.
Do not price November like October.
Key Details
In the first week of Oct 2026, Chinese-built vessel calls at Los Angeles fell 32%. Non-Chinese-built calls rose 21%. That is not a demand signal. It is a redeployment.
Chinese-built ships were about 29% of US port calls in 2024, and 30% of container ship calls. Carriers are quietly moving that tonnage onto other trades. Frankly, you will not see it on a rate sheet — nobody prints it there.
The catch is that every swap moves your transit time.
Falling rates do not rescue you here. The SCFI composite index sat at 3662.30 points on Sep 30 2026, a second consecutive weekly decline, with North Europe quoted at 2199 USD/TEU. A softer index tells you nothing about a charge that sits outside the index entirely.
Looking Ahead
First, pull every US-bound box you have arriving after Nov 9 2026 and add USD 120 per container to the landed cost. Do it before you quote, not after.
Second, ask your agent one question you have never asked before: where was this vessel built?
Third, count backwards. Tianjin to the US West Coast runs 15 to 18 days at sea. To the East Coast it is 25 to 30 days. The last clean sailing for the West Coast leaves around Oct 24 2026. Bottom line, East Coast cargo has already missed the window.
You cannot wait for USTR. Price it now.
Market Outlook
If the pause lapses without an extension, expect carriers to reprice US trades rather than absorb the charge, and expect more tonnage to rotate away from US calls. Bookings made now for December arrival should carry the surcharge as a line item rather than a contingency note.JETWAY Supply Chain is your execution partner on the ground in China — based in Tianjin, licensed as an NVOCC (MOT) and a member of CIFA, FIATA and WCA. We handle special cargo and compliance (dangerous goods, chemicals, batteries) across ocean, air, rail and road, and we pre-check your documents before the box is stuffed so your filing clears the first time. Send us your next booking and we will run the checks above against your sailing date. Request a quote.