The U.S. Trade Representative softened fee proposals for non-U.S.-built LNG tankers and car carriers amid its ongoing effort to counter China's dominance on the high seas and revive domestic shipbuilding.The revised proposal, unveiled by USTR on Friday, would remove LNG-related penalties for failing to export a percentage of fuel on U.S.-owned ships.
Car-carrying ships have sent more cargo from Europe and China, Japan and Korea to the United States in the first months of the year than last year, shipping data showed, in a sign of companies front-loading shipments ahead of looming tariffs.A total of 33 so-called roll on, roll off ships - designed for wheeled cargo and mostly carrying new cars - left Europe for the U.S.