The United States Trade Representative‘s office is holding public hearings this week on proposed actions in the Section 301 investigation of China’s targeting of the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors for dominance that would result in new fees being imposed on Chinese vessels. The first hearing was held on Monday, March 24 and the second will be on Wednesday, March 26.

More than 100 agricultural and biofuels organizations sent comments in a letter to USTR seeking an exemption for agricultural exports from both newly proposed fees on Chinese vessels and graduated sourcing requirements for U.S. built and flagged vessels “until such time as our nation’s ship production can meet the requirements needed to keep U.S. agriculture competitive in the global market.”

“While we support President Trump’s effort to rebuild the United States position and power in global shipping, we are worried the current fees and timelines cannot be achieved without substantial economic harm on the farm and in rural America,” the letter stated. “These are not idle concerns. U.S. commodity prices and agriculture exports have already been negatively impacted due to uncertainty regarding when trade actions would become effective. Vessel operators have told U.S. exporters they intend to pass on 100 percent of the cost of the port fees.”

The Renewable Fuels Association was one of the groups signing the letter and president and CEO Geoff Cooper says shipping transportation is vital to ethanol exports, which hit record levels last year. “Efficient, reliable, and timely export transportation service is critical to the viability of our industry, and the imposition of these fees would be devastating to our marketplace. We urge the U.S. Trade Representative to recognize the vital importance of American agriculture products to the world economy, and grant the requested exemptions.”