On November 13, 2025, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (“USTR”) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing a nearly one-year suspension—until November 10, 2026—of countermeasures it imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, on Chinese vessels and maritime transport operations. Section 301 authorizes the USTR to investigate and, upon an affirmative determination, take action in response to foreign trade acts, policies, or practices that either violate U.S. trade agreement rights or are deemed “unreasonable or discriminatory” by burdening or restricting U.S. commerce.
The USTR initiated its Section 301 investigation into China’s maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors on April 17, 2024 (see Update of April 17, 2024), and issued affirmative findings on January 16, 2025 (see Update of January 17, 2025). As a result, the agency imposed countermeasures aimed at countering China’s dominance in these sectors on April 17, 2025, although fees on Chinese-related maritime transport services only took effect recently, on October 14, 2025 (see Update of April 21, 2025 and Update of June 17, 2025).
According to the Federal Register notice, the suspension reflects both a gesture of goodwill toward China and action taken “at the direction of the President,” following the trade and economic agreement reached between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on October 31, 2025 (see Update of November 3, 2025 for additional details on the broader U.S.-China agreement, and Update of November 4, 2025 regarding the Bureau of Industry and Security’s “Affiliates Rule,” which was likewise suspended for one year pursuant to the trade deal). The notice cautions, however, that the suspension “is premised upon China’s commitment to [further] negotiate [on] the issues raised in this [underlying] investigation.”