by Lloyd's List

22 April 2025 (Lloyd's List) - CHINA’S state-owned shipping giant Cosco has strongly criticised recent US trade actions targeting the country’s maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, calling them “discriminatory” and based on “erroneous” claims.

In response to the US Trade Representative’s latest decision concerning the Section 301 investigation into China’s dominance in the maritime industry, Cosco condemned the measures, saying they not only distort fair competition and impede the normal functioning of the global shipping industry, but also threaten its stable and sustainable development.

The criticism was echoed by major industry groups in China, who voiced unified opposition to what they view as politically motivated trade restrictions.

The China Shipowners’ Association strongly protested the US restrictions. The association urged the US to stop investigations and actions, and said that it would seek to continue to talk with US on levies.

The China Association of National Shipbuilding Industry has joined Cosco and CSA’s complaints, accusing the US of unfairly targeting China’s shipbuilding industry with baseless allegations and flawed investigations.

The transpacific shipping market is facing turbulence amid the US-China tariff dispute. According to industry sources, the Ocean Alliance — which includes Cosco, CMA CGM, Evergreen, and OOCL — plans to cancel three westbound routes to Los Angeles by the end of April.

Reactions from freight forwarders remain mixed. Some told Lloyd’s List they have yet to receive official word, while others confirm that blank sailings from the Alliance have become more frequent.

As transpacific services are reduced, some carriers are redirecting capacity to Europe to fill early May gaps. But analysts warn this may soon ripple into other markets. Freight rates on the Asia-Europe routes remain under pressure, with futures data showing continued declines, Nanhua Futures analyst Yu Junchen told Lloyd’s List.

Adding to the strain, several countries — including the US, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia — have announced stricter checks on product origin. Founder Futures analyst Chen Zhen told Lloyd’s List the clampdown posed a serious challenge to China’s re-export trade and could lead to a notable drop in global shipping volumes, particularly across the Pacific.

Expectations for long-term freight rates have taken a hit, as escalating trade frictions cast a shadow over the global shipping outlook, said China Merchants Futures analyst Lu Jie. In the near term, short-haul routes, particularly within Asia, were seeing signs of supply-demand mismatches, as capacity withdrawn from long-haul services was redeployed unevenly, he added.