US-China Port Fee Truce Implemented on 10 November 2025: What happens next?Following trade negotiations between the United States and China, on 30 October 2025 the countries agreed to a suspension of various tariffs and counter tariffs each had imposed on the other over the past ten months. This included the U.S Trade Representative (USTR) Service Fees imposed under the USTR’s s.301 powers on Chinese owned, operated and built ships, and the Special Port Charges imposed by China on ships with a US nexus. Those various schemes are described more fully at our dedicated webpage found here.Following announcements on 1 November that the suspensions would take place first in the US and with China following the USTR’s suspension, on 10 November the USTR issued a formal Notice suspending the service fees. The Notice is available here. The US suspension is stated to run from 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on November 10 2025 for 1 year, until 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, 10 November 2026. During this suspension, no party will be required to pay any of the fees as set out in the previous determinations of the USTR.At the time of the suspension, various issues remain under investigation by the USTR, such as tariffs on ship to shore cranes and suspension of LNG export licences. This suggests that such matters may be addressed in further negotiations between the US and China on wider trade issues.It is not clear whether the suspension also pauses the stepped increase in charges, previously anticipated to take effect in April 2026 and again in October 2026. If the charging of service fees is reinstated at the end of the one-year “truce” or sooner, it has not been made clear whether or when the planned increases shall take effect or whether charges at original, October 2025, levels will apply.In response to the suspension by the USTR, China also announced a suspension of the Ministry of Transport Announcement no. 54 of 2025; Notice of Implementation Measures JTBS [2025] No. 59; and Ministry of Transport Announcement No. 55 of 2025, for one year starting from 13:01 Beijing time [05:01 GMT] on November 10, 2025. This suspended the Special Port Charges for American ships using US ports announced in early October.It appears that following this announcement, no further Special Port Charges will be collected in China, but we understand that certain local MSAs are still requiring arriving vessels to complete and submit the reporting form. We recommend that members check with their appointed local agents and local lawyers as necessary if they have any concerns in this regard.Neither country has issued any guidance on refunds or clawback of fees already paid.The one year “truce” follows lobbying and public consultation and will be welcome news to owners and operators of ships calling in the US and China. However, as experience has shown with these arrangements, sweeping changes can be made in very short order to regulations governing international trade. For example, the implementation of the Special Port Charges in China was announced and implemented in only a few days.The club maintains that in most cases it would be prudent for parties to:(a) include bespoke terms allocating responsibility and risk for the US and China port charges in their charter parties,(b) to budget for potential liabilities should the fees be reinstated, and(c) to keep updated on any future developments. The BIMCO USTR Clause for Time Charter Parties 2025 can be found here BIMCO USTR Clause. BIMCO are also expediting development of a standard industry clause to deal with the Chinese Special Port Charges. The club continues to assist members with clauses and queries, and any further news will be published on our dedicated US China Tariffs webpage here. Webinar NoticeOn 12 November, we hosted a webinar discussing: “USTR Service Fees and PRC Special Port Fees: Compliance, Cost, and Contractual Risk After October 14" A recording of the session will soon be available for you