‘FREIGHT RATES WOULD BE ASTRONOMICAL’ – PORT MANAGER WARNS OF FALLOUT FROM USTR PROPOSAL

Port Manager Darwin Telemaque says freight rates in Antigua and Barbuda and the rest of the region could see increases of over 100 per cent, if the Trump administration implements a proposal to charge a fine on Chinese-built or operated ships docking at U.S. ports. The United States Trade Representative is proposing fines of up to US$1.5m each time these ships dock at US ports. The move is aimed at reviving the US ship-building industry, an area in which the US says it is being dwarfed by China.

Telemaque tells ABS News that the increases in freight rates from this increase would make the hikes on shipping during the COVID-19 pandemic “look like child’s play.”

He says the situation could be “catastrophic.”