The American Farm Bureau said the Trump administration’s proposals to check China’s dominance in maritime trade and rekindle U.S. shipbuilding could entangle farmers in a devastating trade war.

Fees on China flagged or built vessels entering U.S. ports likely will invite retaliation, Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall said in a March 21 letter to U.S. trade officials.

“The risks of trade disruptions and retaliatory tariffs are real, and history has shown that American farmers are often the first casualties in trade wars,” the letter reads.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has proposed China-flagged ships pay $1 million to enter U.S. ports and China-built vessels pay $1.5 million. The $1 million fee would apply to non-China flagged ships owned by shipping companies with China-built vessels in their fleets.

The fees would apply to 43% of the international vessels calling at U.S. ports, according to the China State Shipbuilding Corporation.

In addition, trade officials propose requiring 15% of U.S. exports, including farm goods, be exported on U.S.-flagged ships within seven years. The U.S. shipbuilding industry accounts for 0.3% of the global market, according to the China shipbuilders.

The Trump proposals respond to an investigation by the Biden administration that concluded the Chinese government is determined to dominate global shipping and that trade sanctions are justified. Five labor unions representing building trades asked for the investigation.

U.S. agricultural interests have reacted negatively to the proposed sanctions. Shipping companies will pass costs on, hitting farmers and ranchers already navigating razor-thin margins, according to Duvall.

The U.S.-flagged fleet lacks capacity and requiring 15% of U.S. farm exports to be loaded on U.S. ships in seven years was simply unrealistic, he said.

“Forcing exporters into an artificially constrained system will not bolster American agriculture — it will suffocate it,” Duvall stated.

China was the top destination for U.S. agricultural exports in 2023, comprising 17% of the total, according to the USDA Economic Research Service.

Sanctions on China will backfire and hurt the U.S. economy by increasing export costs for U.S. energy, manufactured products and farm goods, the China shipbuilding corporation argues.

Chinese ships already are bypassing Washington ports in favor of Canadian and Mexican ports to avoid existing U.S. taxes, according to Dan McKisson, Washington Area president of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union.

The U.S. should collect a tax at the border on Chinese goods entering by land, McKisson stated in comments to trade officials.

“By implementing the fee, we can level the playing field and eliminate the financial incentive for Chinese ships to bypass U.S. ports,” he said.