Section 301 Maritime Port Fees Jump to $80/NT on April 17: What Ocean Importers Need to Know
Section 301 Maritime Port Fees Jump to $80/NT on April 17: What Ocean Importers Need to Know
On April 17, 2026, the U.S. Trade Representative's Section 301 maritime port service fees enter their second scheduled tier. The fee on Chinese-operated vessels arriving at U.S. ports rises from $50 per net ton to $80 per net ton — a 60% increase that takes effect in a matter of days.
The fee is not a product-level tariff, but it behaves like one. Ocean carriers have been passing these charges through to shippers as dedicated line items on bills of lading and ocean freight invoices since the first tier took effect in October 2025. If you import from China, Vietnam, or any Asian origin where Chinese-operated or Chinese-built tonnage dominates the service, your landed cost is about to rise again.
This article breaks down exactly what the fee is, how it is calculated, who pays it, how it stacks with Section 301 product tariffs and the Section 122 universal surcharge, and what importers should be doing this week to minimize exposure.
What the Fee Is
The Section 301 maritime fees originate from the USTR's investigation into China's targeting of the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors for global dominance. The final action was published in the Federal Register on April 23, 2025, and implementation was staged over several years.
There are two separate fee schedules under the program.
Annex I — Chinese-Operated Vessels. Applies to any ocean-going vessel whose operator is a Chinese entity, regardless of where the ship was built or flagged. COSCO, OOCL (COSCO subsidiary), and several smaller Chinese lines fall into this bucket. The fee started at $50 per net ton on October 14, 2025, rises to $80 per net ton on April 17, 2026, then to $110 per net ton on April 17, 2027, and finally $140 per net ton on April 17, 2028.
Annex II — Chinese-Built Vessels. Applies to any ocean-going vessel built in a Chinese shipyard, regardless of who operates it. This captures a much broader swath of global tonnage — many MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM, ONE, and HMM ships were built in China. The Annex II fee is charged at the higher of $18 per net ton or $120 per container in 2025, escalating to $33 per net ton or $250 per container by 2028.
A vessel that falls under both annexes pays only Annex I. The fee is charged per U.S. voyage rotation (a single string of consecutive port calls), not per individual port, and is capped at five chargeable calls per vessel per calendar year.
How the Fee Is Calculated
Net tonnage (NT) is a measure of a vessel's enclosed cargo-carrying volume — not its weight, and not the weight of the cargo on board. A 14,000-TEU Neo-Panamax containership typically has a net tonnage of roughly 70,000 to 90,000 NT. At the $80/NT April 17 rate, a single port call by a Chinese-operated vessel of that size costs the carrier between $5.6 million and $7.2 million.
That cost is not absorbed. Carriers have published surcharge schedules that translate the vessel-level fee into per-container charges assessed to shippers. As of April 2026, the typical pass-through for a Chinese-operated service at the new $80/NT rate works out to roughly $90 to $160 per TEU depending on the vessel size and load factor. The Annex II container-based fee on Chinese-built vessels runs around $120 per container in 2025, and will climb with each annual step.
For a shipper moving a single 40-foot container (2 TEU) on an affected service, that is an added $180 to $320 per shipment. For a full-container-load importer moving 100 FEUs a month, the April 17 increase alone adds $18,000 to $32,000 in monthly ocean freight cost.
Who Actually Pays
The statutory obligation falls on the vessel operator, but every carrier contract and bill of lading in the market has been updated to pass the charge to the shipper as a dedicated surcharge. You will see it on your invoice as one of:
- "USTR Port Fee" or "USTR 301 Surcharge" - "Section 301 Vessel Fee" - "China Port Service Fee" - "USMTA" (U.S. Maritime Transportation Adjustment)
If your carrier is not itemizing the fee separately, it is being rolled into the base ocean freight or a general rate adjustment. Ask your forwarder or carrier for a line-item breakdown — the fee is disclosable and the market standard is transparency.
How the Fee Stacks With Product Tariffs
The Section 301 port fee is a vessel-level charge, not a customs duty. It is not part of the CIF value declared to CBP and is not subject to MFN, Section 301 product, Section 232, or Section 122 duties on top of itself. It is a freight cost, not a tariff cost.
That said, from a landed cost perspective, it still compounds. For a Chinese-origin container of non-metal goods, the full stack looks like this:
1. Product cost (FOB China) 2. Ocean freight (base rate) + Section 301 port fee pass-through ($90–$160 per TEU) 3. Marine insurance 4. CBP entry: MFN duty + Section 301 List 1–4A (25% or 7.5%) + Section 122 (10%) — or Section 232 (50%) if steel/aluminum/copper 5. Customs brokerage and harbor maintenance/merchandise processing fees 6. Drayage and domestic transportation
Importers modeling 2026 landed costs should add the port fee pass-through as a fixed per-container line item in their ocean freight budget, separate from base rates. Use the Duty & Tariff Calculator to model the duty layers, and factor the new $80/NT-tier surcharges into the freight component.
Concrete Example
Assume a 40-foot container of Chinese-origin consumer electronics (Section 301 List 4A, 7.5% rate) with a declared customs value of $50,000, moving on a Chinese-operated vessel.
Before April 17, 2026 (at the $50/NT tier):
- Product cost: $50,000 - Ocean freight base: $2,800 - Section 301 port fee pass-through: ~$110 per TEU × 2 = $220 - MFN duty (3%): $1,500 - Section 301 List 4A (7.5%): $3,750 - Section 122 (10%): $5,000 - MPF + HMF + brokerage: $350 - Total landed cost: ~$63,620
On and after April 17, 2026 (at the $80/NT tier):
- Product cost: $50,000 - Ocean freight base: $2,800 - Section 301 port fee pass-through: ~$180 per TEU × 2 = $360 - MFN duty (3%): $1,500 - Section 301 List 4A (7.5%): $3,750 - Section 122 (10%): $5,000 - MPF + HMF + brokerage: $350 - Total landed cost: ~$63,760
The per-container delta is about $140 — modest on a single container but material across a shipping program. Scaled to 500 FEU per year, the April 17 step adds roughly $70,000 in annual ocean freight cost.
What Importers Should Do This Week
1. Confirm your carrier's surcharge schedule. Ask your ocean carrier or NVOCC for their written Section 301 port fee pass-through schedule effective April 17, 2026. Some carriers post the schedule on their tariff pages; others send it to account managers only on request.
2. Re-quote active BAF/RFPs. If you are in an active RFP cycle or negotiating annual contracts, make sure the Section 301 port fee is addressed explicitly. The preferred structure is a pass-through at cost with documentation, not a marked-up fixed surcharge.
3. Check vessel assignments. Many alliances have been reshuffling Chinese-operated tonnage off of U.S.-bound strings to reduce exposure. Ask your carrier or forwarder which specific vessels are scheduled on your lane for the next 90 days, and whether any shifts are planned to reduce Annex I exposure.
4. Model the April 2027 step. The next tier jump is to $110/NT on April 17, 2027. If you are negotiating a multi-year contract, build the escalation into your cost model and into price adjustment clauses with downstream customers.
5. Recheck Mexico and Canada routings. For USMCA-origin goods, neither the Section 122 tariff nor the Section 301 product tariffs apply. Intermodal rail from Mexican ports remains exempt from the USTR port fee entirely. For some categories, the combined savings from a USMCA routing now exceed the additional inland freight cost. See our USMCA Duty-Free Benefits guide for qualification rules.
The Bigger Picture
The Section 301 maritime fee schedule is a multi-year program, not a one-time event. The April 17, 2026 step is the second of four scheduled increases, and the rate will continue to climb through 2028 unless USTR modifies the action. For importers, this is now a fixed feature of the ocean freight landscape — not a surge to weather, but a rising cost curve to plan around.
Combined with the Section 122 universal surcharge (in force through July 24, 2026 unless extended), the restructured Section 232 metals tariffs (effective April 6, 2026), and the pending Section 301 investigations into excess capacity and forced labor (with findings possible by late July), the total cost-to-import from China and its regional supply chain has reached levels not seen in a generation.
For importers still working off 2024 or 2025 cost models, a full landed cost refresh is overdue. Use the Duty & Tariff Calculator to verify your duty rates, the CBM Calculator to double-check your freight volumes, and the How to Calculate Landed Cost Guide for the full formula. Then add the new $80/NT pass-through to the ocean freight line, and re-run your pricing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about section 301 maritime port fees jump to $80/nt on april 17
What changes on April 17, 2026 with the Section 301 maritime port fee?
The USTR Section 301 port service fee on Chinese-operated vessels (Annex I) rises from $50 per net ton to $80 per net ton. This is the second of four scheduled annual increases, with further steps to $110/NT on April 17, 2027 and $140/NT on April 17, 2028.
Does the Section 301 port fee apply to every container from China?
No. The fee is charged only when the arriving vessel is Chinese-operated (Annex I) or Chinese-built (Annex II). Many services from China are now run on Korean-, Japanese-, or European-built tonnage to avoid Annex II exposure. Ask your carrier for the specific vessel assignment on your lane.
Is the port fee added to the customs value for duty purposes?
No. The Section 301 port fee is a vessel-level charge passed through as an ocean freight surcharge. It is not part of the CIF value declared to CBP and is not subject to MFN, Section 301 product, Section 232, or Section 122 duties.
How much does the fee add per container?
At the April 17, 2026 rate of $80 per net ton, typical carrier pass-throughs on Chinese-operated services work out to roughly $90–$160 per TEU, or $180–$320 per 40-foot container, depending on vessel size and load factor. The Annex II rate on Chinese-built vessels is around $120 per container at the current level.
Are USMCA imports from Mexico or Canada affected?
No. The USTR port fee only applies to vessel arrivals at U.S. seaports. Intermodal rail from Mexican ports and cross-border trucking from Canada are exempt. For USMCA-origin goods, routing through Manzanillo or Lázaro Cárdenas and moving by rail to the U.S. bypasses both the port fee and the Section 122 universal tariff.
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