by WorldTribune Staff, October 17, 2025 Real World News
Intent on slowing America’s shipbuilding revival under President Donald Trump, communist China has slapped sanctions on five U.S. subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean.
The sanctioned subsidiaries are Hanwha Shipping LLC, Hanwha Philly Shipyard Inc., Hanwha Ocean USA International LLC, Hanwha Shipping Holdings LLC and HS USA Holdings Corp., according to a statement from China’s Commerce Ministry.
The sanctions, effective immediately, bans Chinese organizations and individuals from doing business with the sanctioned companies, China’s Ministry of Commerce said.
“Hanwha’s subsidiaries in the U.S. have assisted and supported the U.S. government’s probes and measures against Chinese maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors. China is strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposes it,” a ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
“We are aware of the announcement by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, and we are currently reviewing the details,” said Linda Johnson, a Hanwha USA spokesperson. “Hanwha will continue to provide world-class maritime services to our customers, including through our investments in the U.S. maritime industry and via Hanwha Philly Shipyard.”
Beijing’s move followed the Trump Administration’s decision to impose steep fees on Chinese ships docking at American ports starting Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. EDT.
China retaliated with a similar charge of 400 yuan ($56) per net ton on American vessels, starting on the same day. Container vessels can range from 50,000 to 220,000 tons.
Brent Sadler, National SecuritySenior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, noted in a post to LinkedIn:
China Doesn’t Want an American Maritime Revival:
China is sanctioning one of the first allies to invest in a new effort to revive American shipbuilding not limited military vessels. Specifically, Hanwha who bought and has been investing billions in the revival of Philadelphia shipyard.
China knows that a revived American maritime industry undermines its strategy to control the terms of trade, and more effectively use economic coercion against the U.S. and its allies like South Korea, Japan, etc.
In a separate statement, China’s Ministry of Transport said it is investigating the impact of the Trump Administration’s Section 301 probe of Chinese shipping and shipbuilding industries.
The ministry said the inquiry will also assess whether companies, organizations or individuals helped the U.S. in “undertaking discriminatory restrictive behaviors” against China’s shipping supply chain.
China targets U.S. shipbuilding revival, sanctions South Korean subsidiaries added by Editor Two on
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