US/CHINA - Tit-for-Tat Port Fees

The U.S. and China began charging additional port fees on ocean shipping firms that move everything from holiday toys to crude oil, making the high seas a key front in the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

China said it had started to collect the special charges on U.S.-owned, operated, built or flagged vessels but clarified that Chinese-built ships would be exempted from the levies.

In details published by state-run broadcaster CCTV, China spelled out specific provisions on exemptions, which also include empty ships entering Chinese shipyards for repair.

Similar to the U.S. plan, the new China-imposed fees would be collected at the first port of entry on a single voyage or for the first five voyages within a year.

In a related move, Beijing also imposed sanctions against five U.S.-linked subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean that it said had “assisted and supported” a U.S. investigation into Chinese trade practices.

Hanwha, one of the world’s largest shipbuilders, owns Philly Shipyard in the U.S. and has won contracts to repair and overhaul U.S. Navy ships. Its entities will also build a U.S.-flagged LNG carrier.

-www.nbcnews.com, 15 October 2025

Commentary: The USA stands in first place economically, with a GDP of $30.5 trillion, followed by China at $19.2 trillion. Thus, China has much catching up to do. However, one must keep in mind that just a few decades ago, China didn’t even appear in the list of the top ten.

When it comes to manufacturing, China is the undisputed king of the world with 27.7% of global manufacturing output (2024). The United States resides in second place at 17.3%.

Many ask, what is China’s secret? China is a communist-social-capitalist system. Most noticeable is their ability to quickly adapt to the global economy. In that respect, China can relax, as the balance stands in their favor. The CIA Factbook lists its exports at $3.7 trillion, with imports of $3.2 trillion.

There is little doubt that the competition between these two giants will shift favorably to Asia under the leadership of China.

A Google search was conducted with the question, “Which is the most successful country in the world in 2050?” Based on various sources such as Delphos, the top five are China, India, USA, Indonesia, and Brazil. These statistics, however, are speculation based on previous growth patterns of the respective states.

When it comes to the healthiest country index, globalcitizensolutions.com lists Spain as number one, followed by Italy, Iceland, Japan, and Switzerland. William-Russell.com has the top five as: 1) Norway, 2) Switzerland, 3) Finland, 4) Australia, 5) Sweden.

What do we notice? The virtually unending trend toward equality.

What is the value of this information? Simply to show the progressive march of globalism.

When reading Daniel, we realize that the gentile world is divided into four periods: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Notice, Rome is not the city or Italy, but the entire European continent, which in turn has dominated all five continents. Daniel writes: “Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet” (Daniel 7:19). The industrialized world has become subject to “the fourth beast.” Note the word “diverse.” That simply means all other previous systems will merge into one.