The United States and China have agreed to extend their trade truce until 10 January 2027, a move expected to keep reciprocal port fees on U.S.- and China-linked vessels suspended beyond their current November expiry.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on 23 September that Washington and Beijing had agreed to extend the Busan Agreement, which was due to expire on 10 November 2026. The new deadline is 10 January 2027. Reuters reported the announcement following Bessent’s meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Washington.
The existing U.S. port-fee suspension stems from the Section 301 action covering China’s maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative suspended the measures for one year from 10 November 2025 following a trade agreement between the two countries.
China introduced a corresponding suspension on the same date. Its Ministry of Transport halted special port fees on U.S.-linked vessels for one year from 10 November 2025, alongside the U.S. suspension of its maritime Section 301 measures.
Industry reporting following the latest trade talks indicates that the two-month extension of the Busan Agreement is expected to keep the reciprocal port-fee measures on hold into January. PPAI said the pause on the China shipbuilding-related fees is now expected to run until January 2027.
However, as of 28 September, the formal U.S. and Chinese notices available publicly still specify the original one-year suspensions beginning on 10 November 2025. The USTR’s Section 301 case page continues to list the existing notice suspending the action for one year, while China’s Ministry of Transport notice also states a one-year suspension.
No new USTR notice or Chinese Ministry of Transport notice located in the current search changes the port-fee suspension date to 10 January 2027. FreightFigures similarly noted that Bessent’s announcement extended the broader trade truce, while a separate USTR notice covering the ship-fee suspension had not yet been published.
The reciprocal port-fee measures therefore remain formally governed by the existing suspension notices until further implementation details are issued. Neither government has announced a permanent withdrawal of the port-fee regimes.
