US-China trade tariffs

The trade war between the world's two largest economies is deepening. The United States and China have imposed additional port fees on each other's ships since Tuesday. The fees will apply to all types of goods. Ships carrying everything from toys to raw materials to oil will have to pay these fees. The message is making the sea route a key front in the trade war between the two largest economies. Reuters.

Earlier this year, the administration of US President Donald Trump announced plans to impose tariffs on China-related ships. The main goal of the US imposition of these additional tariffs was to reduce China's monopoly on the global maritime industry.

An investigation during the administration of former US President Joe Biden found that China was taking over the global maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors through inconsistent policies and processes. This paved the way for the imposition of these penalties. The US began collecting the fees on October 14.

Analysts believe that Chinese-owned container carrier Cosco will be the most affected. China retaliated last week and announced that it would impose its own port fees on US-bound ships starting Tuesday.

Analyst Omar Nocta said that this would affect about 13 percent of the world's crude oil tankers and 11 percent of container ships.