China and the US have today put their tit-for-tat port fees on hold for a year, much to the relief of many shipping organisations, while trade unions in the US have hit out at the Trump administration for rowing back on a policy that had been intended to bolster American shipbuilding.

The controversial port fees, introduced by Washington and Beijing on October 14, came to an end today at 13.01 Beijing time following a recent summit between Donald Trump and his counterpart, Xi Jinping.

”Following this retreat, workers who know all too well the boom-and-bust nature of American shipbuilding are again being pushed aside, even as new commercial orders — worth billions of dollars — flow back into Chinese shipyards,” the unions suggested in a joint statement.

This disappointment was in stark contrast to the reaction from leading shipping organisations and American import and export bodies, who have all welcomed the withdrawal of the penalties, hoping that the one-year suspension will become permanent.

However, with both Democrats and Republicans in Washington in favour of building back American shipbuilding, it remains unclear what will happen in the coming months.

“Although the US-China pause on tariffs and port fees is a welcome breather, it is hard not to think that the genie has escaped the bottle; ships and shipyards will likely be a key feature of the US-China great power struggle,” analysts at broker Hartland argued in their latest weekly report.

“In the current geopolitical climate, sudden U-turns are hardly uncommon, and a one-year truce feels more like a tactical pause than a lasting peace,” broker Braemar cautioned in a recent report.