Last-minute changes to new port fees enacted by the Trump administration’s U.S. Trade Representative have stuck one U.S.-based ocean carrier with an estimated annual tariff bill of $34 million, after it was reclassified under new Section 301 program terms.
On Oct. 14, the first day of the fee program, Atlantic Container Line paid a $1.4 million tariff due to its unique container vessel construction. ACL’s ships carry 80% shipping containers, 10% roll-on/roll-off freight (such as tractors, construction equipment, and passenger cars), and 10% freight that is oversize cargo like aircraft wings and transformers for power plants and data center machinery.
The additional changes include the fee structure for vehicle carriers, otherwise known as roll-on/roll-off (Ro/Ro) vessels, which help to carry automobiles, farm equipment and other heavy machinery. Now, a fee will be charged based on the vessel’s net tonnage capacity instead of the number of vehicles being carried. That is on top of the new standard USTR port fees, which went into effect on Tuesday and have led to broader confusion among ship owners about potential financial hits.
Atlantic Container Line vessel, which carries both containers (80% capacity) as well as various kinds of large freight cargo, from tractors to aircraft wings and power plant equipment.
Atlantic Container Line
Under the USTR rule — Section 301 allows it to take action against internationally-based discriminatory trade practices, and this investigation was begun under the Biden administration with a focus on Chinese port equipment, among other issues, and followed through on in Trump’s new term — an ocean carrier is charged five times per vessel a year. ACL vessels travel along the transatlantic route, and they use five vessels in their fleet that service the U.S. trade lane to ensure weekly service.
“That’s 25 vessels being charged $1.4 million a year,” Andrew Abbott, CEO of Atlantic Container Line, told CNBC. “We are looking at a tariff total of $34 million a year.”
Abbott says his company has been hit hard by a bureaucratic blind spot. Out of the 10% roll-on/roll-off freight ACL handles, only 1% is passenger cars. “The vessel should be classified by the majority of freight we move. That’s containers. We have always been considered a Container vessel. This time around, Customs and Border Protection changed it to Ro/Ro container.”
Abbott says you can visually see the difference between their container vessels versus a Ro/Ro vessel.
“Traditional Ro/Ro’s look like floating parking garages; we do not,” he said.
A large roll-on/roll-off ship berths at Lianyungang Port to load new energy vehicles for export in Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province, China, on August 19, 2025.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Abbott warns over the long term, if the company has to continue to pay the tariffs, it may not be able to viably operate a business in the U.S. and could be forced to relocate operations,