Forcing the use of American ships by imposing "port fees" on Chinese ships? The American Petroleum Institute warns: an impossible task.

The Financial Times reported on the 27th that the American Petroleum Institute warned in a recent lobbying letter to the US government that the industry cannot comply with President Trump's regulations on Chinese vessels, which include imposing "harbor fees" on ships built in China to force related companies to use American transport ships, "because the US currently does not have ships that meet the transportation conditions." In order to revitalize the US shipbuilding industry, the US Trade Representative's Office announced on the 17th of this month that it will start imposing harbor fees on Chinese vessels 180 days later, and will start restricting the use of foreign vessels to transport LNG to the US 3 years later. These measures will gradually increase over the next 22 years, and the USTR encourages the gradual use of American-built ships flying the American flag during this time period.