Latest news with #CaryDavis
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US Ports Warn of $6.7B Bill if 100% Tariff on China-Made Cranes Kicks in
U.S. ports are urging the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to reconsider a new 100-percent tariff on Chinese-manufactured ship-to-shore (STS) cranes, citing billions in extra costs. At a hearing in Washington on Monday, American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) president and CEO Cary Davis testified that public port authorities would have to pay total tariffs, if imposed, of a combined $6.7 billion over the next decade. More from Sourcing Journal NRF VP: Retailers 'Need Clarity' on New China Tariff Deadline India Ends Land Port Entry for Bangladeshi Garment Imports Walmart Says It Will Increase Prices on Some Goods Because of Tariffs 'Applying a new 100 percent tariff to Chinese STS cranes will not create a domestic crane manufacturing industry out of thin air,' stated Davis, in official comments submitted to the Federal Register. 'It will only increase costs for public port authorities.' The 100-percent tariffs would expand on prior 25-percent tariffs slapped on the equipment in 2024 under the Biden administration. At the time, the 81-port AAPA also pushed back against those duties, but to no avail. American ports currently have 55 cranes on order and another 151 are expected to be needed in six to 10 years, according to Davis' testimony. For example, Port Houston has eight STS cranes contracted for delivery by spring 2026 for $14 million each. But under the tariffs, the port would be spending an extra $302.4 million in added costs—potentially preventing the hub from investing in infrastructure elsewhere. The port association suggested that the 'logical first step' toward reshoring STS crane production would be for Congress to establish a tax credit for domestic production. 'USTR should forgo any further tariffs on STS cranes until such legislation is passed,' Davis said. From there, the association recommended the USTR to forgo applying the 100-percent tariff to cranes that were ordered and contracted prior to the publication of the proposal on April 17. Davis also called for the USTR to delay imposition of the 100-percent tariff for one or two years, saying that ports' decisions on equipment and infrastructure investments are made years in advance. 'If a port authority needs a new STS crane to either replace aging equipment, expand the capacity of an existing terminal, or outfit a new terminal, altering procurement plans is complicated,' said Davis. 'Adding millions of dollars in tariffs to a project's budget can get the project scaled back, delayed, or cancelled entirely. Even with these tariffs, manufacturers cannot stand up production facilities in the U.S. and start producing cranes for several years.' Finally, he asked USTR to clarify that the Section 301 tariffs are not additive to the 125-percent reciprocal and 20-percent fentanyl tariffs on China—both of which were responsible for most of the added hypothetical tariff costs. American retailers and brands shared their own individual concerns with the USTR's Section 301 punitive measures. The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) is concerned that imposing tariffs on cranes, chassis and shipping containers without the availability of competitive alternatives will significantly raise shipping costs. 'Many companies have already increased prices in response to existing tariffs and cannot absorb further cost burdens,' said Nate Herman, senior vice president of policy at the AAFA, in a letter. 'We strongly urge you not to raise the duty rates on the proposed products.' If tariffs are deemed necessary, the AAFA requested that the duties be phased in gradually to allow businesses adequate time to adapt and plan for the resulting expenses. The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) had a more specific worry regarding the office's 'country of origin' test set forth in the proposal, in which tariffs would be placed on cranes manufactured by any company's owned or controlled by a Chinese citizen rather than a state-owned enterprise. 'Here, USTR proposes to change well-established origin tests and adopt an expansive definition that requires importers of ship-to-shore cranes to exclude from its sourcing operations any business that may be owned by a Chinese national,' said Blake Harden, vice president of international trade at RILA. 'This would create additional burdens and administrative challenges for businesses trying to make sourcing determinations around the globe, as well as create confusion and impede their ability to meet other customs obligations.' RILA urged USTR to reconsider the expanded country of origin test. Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC), which manufactured 80 percent of cranes currently used at U.S. ports, denied it was a threat to U.S. national security interests and requested its removal from the list of items proposed under Section 301 tariffs. 'The proposed tariffs on STS cranes will undermine the U.S. economy and national security by negatively disrupting essential U.S. supply chains,' ZPMC said in a filing to the USTR Monday. 'China's STS cranes pose no alleged cybersecurity risk, and the proposed tariffs are not a legitimate remedy; and the proposed tariffs would negatively impact the global STS crane industry, including the United States, and would harm, rather than help, the U.S. economy and national security.' The USTR Office and Ambassador Jamieson Greer have shown to be flexible in amending potential Section 301 penalties against China in the wake of public commentary. When the office unveiled the crane proposal in April, it also revealed a finalized, pared back version of the previously criticized port docking fees levied on Chinese ships. The latest measures were more lenient on container shipping giants than originally expected, with ocean carriers like Maersk and CMA CGM already saying they won't deal with any cost impact.
Bloomberg
19-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Trump Crane Tariffs Would Cost US Ports $6.7 Billion, Group Says
Import tariffs imposed on Chinese-built cranes could cost key US cargo handling facilities nearly $6.7 billion and inhibit infrastructure investment, according to a group that represents 81 ports across the country. 'Ports would have no choice but to pay these tariffs or drastically scale back their port modernization plans,' said Cary Davis, chief executive officer of the American Association of Port Authorities. 'That affordability problem leads to a capacity problem.'
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
China's ZPMC warns of port shutdown if crane tariff goes through
WASHINGTON — Imposing a 100% tax on the world's primary supplier of container gantry cranes could lead to supply chain chaos and major damage to the U.S. economy, according to China's Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co. (ZPMC). In comments filed with the U.S. trade representative, ZPMC, which according to the U.S. government has the largest share of the ship-to-shore (STS) crane market, warned that USTR's proposal to impose a 100% tariff on its cranes would prevent ZPMC from providing new or replacement cranes, parts and components that allow U.S. ports to operate efficiently and compete with other ports. 'The tariffs will significantly increase costs for U.S. port customers, and lead to low efficiencies in port supply chain operations due to material reliance on aging equipment or even a complete halt of port operations,' ZPMC told USTR, ahead of a hearing the agency is holding on the tariff proposal on May 19. 'The additional costs on U.S. ports will significantly increase the costs of consumer products, increase the costs of U.S. exports, and create serious inflationary pressures on the U.S. economy.'As a state-controlled company unburdened by the profit-turning pressures of its international competitors, ZPMC can offer significantly below-market prices for cranes that typically cost $10 million to $12 million or more, a marketing director for an international crane manufacturer told FreightWaves in 2022. ZPMC-built cranes are operating at the largest U.S. container ports, including those in Los Angeles, New York, Virginia, Baltimore, Seattle, Miami, Houston, Charleston, South Carolina, and Tampa, Florida. In addition to the 100% crane tariff, USTR is proposing a 20%-100% tax on Chinese-made ocean containers and on the truck chassis used to haul them to and from the ports. The gantry crane and container equipment tariff proposal follows a report issued in January by the Biden administration that found the U.S. is vulnerable to its overreliance on Chinese production of such equipment, giving China the power to manipulate maritime report led USTR in April to issue a multiphase scheme for port fees on Chinese-linked shipping based on the size of ships. U.S. ports, meanwhile, are also worried about the ramifications of the proposed tariffs, particularly given that there currently are no U.S. producers of STS cranes. Cary Davis, president of the American Association of Port Authorities, told USTR he plans to testify at the upcoming hearing 'how these steep tariffs will deter ports from building out the infrastructure necessary for America and our maritime industry to compete globally.' Port of Virginia CEO Stephen Edwards told USTR that as the size of the container ships the port routinely services climbs from 16,000 twenty-foot equivalent units to 20,000 TEUs, it will struggle to keep up without STS cranes that China and ZPMC are capable of building to support them. To give non-Chinese manufacturers time to catch up, Edwards intends to propose that the tariffs be phased in over 12 months, 'consistent with the exclusion for cranes that fulfill contracts executed prior to May 14, 2024, and that are delivered prior to May 14, 2026' under an existing 25% tax on Chinese STS cranes that went into force last year. He also will suggest that the tariffs be treated as industry-specific taxes 'and be assessed in lieu of, rather than in addition to, broader country-wide duties.' US targets Chinese-made container cranes in spy crackdown Ports call out 'sensationalized' targeting of foreign container cranes White House to Trump: Get ready for more supply chain shocks Click for more FreightWaves articles by John post China's ZPMC warns of port shutdown if crane tariff goes through appeared first on FreightWaves.
