Storyline: U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is revisiting a controversial proposal to impose hefty fees on ships connected to China, following strong opposition from U.S. trade unions, shipping executives, and logistics experts. The proposed measure, introduced earlier this year by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)'s office, would have levied fees that could top 3 million U.S. dollars per U.S. port call for China-built or linked vessels. But following recent hearings with the industry experts, an alternative fee structure may be under consideration. Experts warn that the added fees would likely be passed on to consumers, exacerbating inflation. Beyond price hikes, experts caution the fees could deter shipping traffic altogether, a move that could choke critical supply chains. As the Trump administration weighs alternative structures, the outcome could reshape U.S. port operations and global trade flows, adding to the uncertainty already stirred by broader tariff actions against China. Shotlist: FILE: Washington D.C., USA - October 2024: 1. Various of White House Los Angeles, USA - Recent: 2. Vessel, containers at port USA - April 11, 2025: 3. SOUNDBITE (English) John McCown, senior fellow, U.S. Center for Maritime Strategy (starting with shot 2): "My reading of the initial proposal was there's one fee based on who operates the ship, one fee, based on where the ship itself is built, and one more fee based on the order book, with the last two having gradations. My interpretation is they moved away from that." FILE: Los Angeles, USA - Nov 9, 2017: 4. Various of loaded ships, containers at port USA - April 11, 2025: 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Weston LaBar, chief strategy officer, U.S. Waterfront Logistics (starting with shot 4): "Whenever there's an increased cost of servicing your customers, typically because there's so much consumer products that are going from point A to point B on these large ocean vessels, you're going to have a trickle-down effect. And depending on the commodity, that increase of cost could have astronomical impacts on inflation." FILE: USA - Date Unknown: 6. Various of facilities, ships, containers at port USA - April 11, 2025: 7. SOUNDBITE (English) John McCown, senior fellow, U.S. Center for Maritime Strategy (starting with shot 6): "[Very troubling] because it will be kind of dollar for dollar raise much more disruptive to the actual physical movement of the ships. Whether it's diversions, whether it's consolidating ports, which guarantees with it a certain amount of congestion, it's blunter and in my view, more disruptive." FILE: USA - Date Unknown: 8. Various of facilities, ships, containers at port. [Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland]