The Monetary Occasions has an article discussing the proposed tax on Chinese language ships that use US ports:
In 2024, about 46 per cent of US bulk fertiliser imports — 6.7mn metric tons — have been carried by Chinese language-built dry bulk carriers, based on Kpler information. A $1.5mn payment might enhance transportation prices by $62.50 per ton, a burden that may probably be handed right down to farmers, already going through excessive enter prices. Phosphate and nitrogen fertilisers, important for US crop manufacturing, can be hit hardest. . . .
The recommended charges are the results of a months-long investigation by US commerce officers, initiated by the Biden administration, into the best way to counter China’s maritime dominance. The probe got here in response to complaints from union leaders about Chinese language trade subsidies. Japan and Korea are additionally main builders, with American shipmakers extensively thought-about gradual and costly compared.
Why can’t US farmers merely cross on this additional value to the international shoppers of their exports? The issue they face is that the tax doesn’t apply to their rivals. Whereas the worldwide demand for farm items could also be considerably inelastic, the precise demand for US farm exports is much extra elastic, as importing nations have many different suppliers to select from:
Jay O’Neil, a commodities guide, stated that the proposed charges “scare the heck out of me”, including that they quantity to “encouraging crop manufacturing expansions in lands of our international rivals”.
