This content was first published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
According to an investigation by RFA’s Cantonese Service, the price war between the United States and China could further undermine Hong Kong’s position as a big international pot port, where fewer boats are docking and some workers are receiving lower pay.
People in the industry said business has been sagging for some time, citing the shifting of global container prospects to ships in mainland China, though the effects of the Trump administration’s most recent tariffs may not have been fully felt.
The late increased U.S. tariffs today target products made in China and Hong Kong likewise, more reducing the city’s effectiveness as a shipping hub for Chinese manufacturers looking to avoid tariffs by using a “made in Hong Kong” brand.
According to figures released last week by Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department, the volume of shipped cargo arriving at Hong Kong’s container ports decreased by 0.5 % year over year.
The city’s container terminals handled 13.69 million twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, a 5 % decrease from the previous year.
The number of vessels carrying the Hong Kong flag has decreased by more than 30 %, from a peak of around 3, 000 before the pandemic to just 1, 875 in 2024, a decrease of more than 30 %.
Staff on the ground claimed that they have much less to do now than they did a few years ago, citing the shift in container traffic to ports in mainland China.
There is “very little to do.”
A container truck owner-driver at Hong Kong’s Kwai Chung Container Terminal, who used only the surname Chan out of fear of reprisals, told RFA Cantonese that he has “very little to do” these days.
According to Chan, who was interviewed from a parking lot at the container terminal on March 7 and who I would not say it has fallen by 30 %, it seems as though it has, in my opinion, fallen by 60 % or 70 %.
He claimed that part of the problem is that countries like the US no longer treat Hong Kong as a separate country when it comes to tariffs, making it impossible for Chinese manufacturers to evade tariffs by returning goods to Hong Kong and repackaging them under the label “made in Hong Kong”.
Due to the decline in traffic flow, another driver, who chose to use only the surname Leung out of fear of reprisals, claimed to once be in possession of nearly 20 containers but only holds 6 or 7 because of it.
He claimed that he only works 20 days per month right now, compared to almost daily before the pandemic.
According to Leung,” there aren’t as many ships docking in Hong Kong right now.” There are no ships in the dock because the crane arms are sticking up like trees, the owner says. When ships are in the dock, the arms are lowered.
There used to be a transshipment business where containers were shipped to mainland China once they arrived, but now they are directly delivered to mainland China, he said.” There’s nothing for us to do.
According to VesselsValue, a division of the maritime data group Veson Nautical, Hong Kong’s flag is the eighth most-flagged by ships worldwide.
” Everything has been cut in half,” says the statement.
However, in January, there were 2, 173 newly registered ships that were categorized as ocean-going vessels, which suggests a shift in attention is being placed on coastal and river cargo traffic.
Another driver, who only used the surname Lui, claimed that his freight volumes, wages, and the number of days he worked are about half what they were four years ago.
” Everything has been reduced in half, including salaries,” Lui claimed. We once only had to work every day because we used to ship one container every few days.
According to Leung, business has decreased by between 60 % and 70 %.
” There are at least 70 % less containers arriving in Hong Kong,” he said. ” They passed through Hong Kong and we transported them to China because there weren’t as many ports in mainland China at the time.” They are now being loaded into Chinese ports.
Yu Kam-keung, a consultant to Hong Kong Shipping Employees ‘ Union, provided the drivers ‘ stories with supporting evidence.
Simply put, if you want to learn more about container traffic in Hong Kong, it has been declining, Yu told RFA Cantonese. ” The shipping ecosystem has changed in a lot of ways, but I can’t comment much more than that, sorry.
According to a report from Reuters on March 6 that some shipping companies are allegedly moving ships off the Hong Kong flag registry and making” crash plans” to do so, “others are making contingency plans to do so.”
Unease in the industry is being caused by Hong Kong’s role in advancing Chinese security interests and growing U.S. scrutiny of the importance of China’s commercial fleet in a future military conflict, possibly over Taiwan, according to the report.
China is held accountable by the US for encroaching on business.
In a separate report, the organization cited a White House statement that stated that the United States plans to levy taxes on imports coming from China-made ships and support its own shipbuilding sector in a bid to end China’s grip on the US$$ 150 billion global ocean shipping industry.
Last month, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative ( USTR ), which it called “burdens or restrains U.S. commerce, by undermining business opportunities for and investments in the U.S. maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors,” proposed imposing heavy port fees on China-owned shipping.
It claimed that China’s market share in the world shipbuilding sector has grown exponentially. About 5 % of all ships ‘ total tonnage was produced in China in 1999. By 2023, that had surpassed 50 %.
Beijing has engaged in a policy of subsidizing its domestic shipbuilding industry to dominate the global market, according to the investigation conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974.
