US Proposes Two More Months of Port-Fee Relief for China Ships as LA and Long Beach Strike Is Put Off

Economic Warfare & Trade Policy › Trade & tariffs

US Army Reserve soldiers conduct cargo operations at the Port of Long Beach, California (file photo). Photo: U.S. Army 79SSC by Maj. Eric Connor, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

The US Trade Representative has proposed suspending its Section 301 port fees on China-linked ships for two more months, through January 9, 2027, to allow more talks with Beijing, according to a notice in the Federal Register. The current pause ends on November 9. On the West Coast, employers and a dockworkers’ local agreed on October 30 to keep talking, putting off a threatened strike at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach.

Key figures: Jan. 9, 2027 proposed new end of the port-fee pause · 85% long beach cargo at terminals in the strike dispute · $113.70 brent crude per barrel, oct. 30

The deal at a glance

The extension would push back the fees by about two months, from November 9 to January 9, 2027. The fees stem from USTR’s action against China’s targeting of the maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors. USTR is taking public comments before it decides.

In an October 30 filing, Italy’s Grimaldi Group backed the extension and asked for a permanent end to fees on foreign-built vehicle carriers, gCaptain reported. “Many of our American customers have expressed concern,” the company wrote, saying it could move ships out of US trades. Grimaldi said 74.7% of its US import volume belongs to American automakers and that 86% of its US cargo is US exports or imports.

Ports avert a November 1 strike

The Pacific Maritime Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 26 extended talks to 5 p.m. Pacific time on November 4, delaying a strike threatened for November 1, gCaptain reported. Local 26 members work at terminals that handle about 85% of cargo at Long Beach and 33% at Los Angeles. About 250 watchmen are involved in the dispute.

By the numbers

Local 26’s footprint at Long Beach is more than 2.5 times its share at Los Angeles, 85% versus 33%, TBR calculations from the association’s figures. The proposed port-fee pause would add 61 days to the current suspension.

Energy prices stayed high. Brent crude futures rose 2.7% to $113.70 a barrel on October 30, while spot gold fell 3.5% to $3,880 an ounce, its lowest in 13 months, Anadolu Agency reported. European natural gas traded at €103.50 per megawatt-hour. Eurostat’s flash estimate put euro zone growth at 0.4% in the third quarter, down from 0.6%, with France contracting 0.1%, CNBC reported.

Tanker rate questions in London

Court filings in London showed that the Baltic Exchange received two whistleblower claims of attempted manipulation of the TD3C tanker rate, the benchmark for crude shipments from Saudi Arabia to China, since the Iran war began, gCaptain reported, carrying a Bloomberg story. One inquiry found no manipulation and the other remains open. The trader Mercuria rejected any suggestion of wrongdoing.

G20, Venezuela oil and trade remedies

Opening a G20 plenary in Atlanta, Rubio said the world faces “interconnected economic and geopolitical crises” threatening energy and food supplies, supply chains and freedom of navigation, the State Department said. Rubio and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan also signed the contract for US participation in Expo 2030 Riyadh, according to the department. Our G20 live updates follow the meeting.

Reuters reported that the deal Trump called the biggest oil deal in history hands 17 Venezuelan oilfields to North American Blue Energy Partners, which pledges to raise output from about 224,000 barrels a day in mid-October to more than 1 million, The Japan Times reported. Washington gets a 35% stake in the company’s parent and the right to buy 20% of output at production cost.

The Commerce Department preliminarily found that South Korea’s HD Hyundai Electric and Iljin Electric did not sell large power transformers in the United States below normal value from August 2024 to July 2025, according to a Federal Register filing due for publication on November 2. China’s demand that Washington revoke its ban on Chinese device-testing labs is covered in our FCC test-lab story, and Canada’s tariff moves in our Oct. 30 trade war report.

Watch for whether USTR adopts the extension before November 9 and whether the Los Angeles and Long Beach talks produce a deal by the November 4 deadline. Today’s Indo-Pacific report covers the US-Japan-South Korea meeting in Atlanta.

Sources

• Federal Register: Request for Comments on Further Suspension of Section 301 Action: China's Targeting of the Maritime, Logistics, and Shipbuilding Sectors for Dominance
• gCaptain: Grimaldi Warns U.S. Port Fees Could Force Ships Out of American Trades
• gCaptain: Strike Threat at Los Angeles, Long Beach Ports Delayed as Union and Employers Extend Talks
• Anadolu Agency: Gold falls 13-month low as energy prices remain high
• CNBC: Euro zone economy slows to 0.4% growth in Q3 as crisis-hit France contracts
• gCaptain: Whistleblowers Claimed Key Oil Tanker Rate Was Manipulated
• US Department of State: Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a Plenary Session on Geopolitical Issues
• US Department of State: Secretary Rubio Announces U.S. Participation in World Expo 2030 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• The Japan Times: Trump touted a record Venezuela oil deal. Now reality is setting in
• Federal Register public inspection: Large Power Transformers from the Republic of Korea: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2024-2025

Additional sources

• Federal Register: Robotics and industrial machinery imports proclamation (Proc. 11077)
• The White House: America First Seafood Strategy