November 9, 2025 - The Trump administration has decided to pause its investigation into China's shipbuilding industry. In response, China has also chosen to halt its own investigation and delay special port fees for U.S. ships.

The U.S. Trade Representative's office announced that the investigation will be suspended for one year starting from midnight local time on Monday. Shortly afterward, China's Ministry of Transport confirmed that it would also postpone its own actions to align with the agreement made during recent trade discussions with the U.S.

The U.S. plans to continue negotiations with China regarding the issues that were part of the investigation, according to the USTR.

This decision alleviates some costs and uncertainty for the shipping industry, which had been facing fees for transporting goods to the U.S. It fulfills one of the agreements reached by Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping during their talks in South Korea last month.

The proposed port fees on each other’s ships had the potential to disrupt global shipping, increase freight rates, and complicate the transportation of essential goods, including oil. China's investigation was a retaliatory measure announced in mid-October, aimed at evaluating the effects of the U.S. investigation into its maritime sector.

According to a fact sheet released last week, the U.S. will also pause tariffs on imports of ship-to-shore cranes and chassis from China, alongside a suspension of fees on Chinese-built and operated merchant ships docking at American ports.

However, this concession has faced criticism from U.S. industry and labor groups, who argue that it undermines efforts by the Trump administration to strengthen the U.S. shipbuilding sector.

Trump had been trying to counter China's expanding influence in the shipbuilding industry with this now-suspended investigation and by negotiating with Japan and South Korea to help revitalize the struggling U.S. shipbuilding sector.