On October 26, 2026, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register a request for comments to allow for further negotiation with China regarding the acts, policies, and practices at issue and the countermeasures it imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, on Chinese vessels and maritime transport operations. The proposed countermeasures included implementing service fees on Chinese vessel operators and vessel owners, as well as vessel operators of Chinese built vessels; the date of implementation of such fees is scheduled for November 10, 2026. The USTR seeks to continue the suspension of such fees until January 9, 2027.
Any comments pertaining to this two-month suspension must be submitted by October 30, 2026, using docket number USTR–2026–0694 on the electronic portal at https://comments.ustr.gov/s/ under the docket, ‘‘Request for Comments on Further Suspension of Section 301 Action: China’s Targeting of the Maritime, Logistics, and Shipbuilding Sectors for Dominance.’’
For additional background on this Section 301 investigation, see SmarTrade Update of November 13, 2025.