Global shipping companies are moving full steam ahead with commercial vessel orders from Chinese shipyards, despite the US targeting those ships with port fees aimed at countering China’s maritime dominance, a new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies showed, reports Reuters. Chinese shipyards captured 53% of all global ship orders by tonnage during the first eight months of 2025, according to the CSIS analysis of S&P Global data released on Wednesday.
That was on par with full-year 2023 levels before the US Trade Representative (USTR) launched the China maritime probe that paved the way for the port fees, CSIS said.
“Shipping companies are largely moving forward with business as usual,” said Brian Hart, a fellow with the China Power Project at CSIS and an author of the report. “So far, it doesn’t look like these policies will achieve a significant shift away from China.”