New vehicles are prepared for export at the Port of Seattle. (David Ryder/Bloomberg)
Hoegh Autoliners ASA, an Oslo, Norway-based car carrier, said that a plan to impose fees on foreign ships calling at U.S. ports could cost the company as much as $70 million.
The Trump administration last week pressed ahead with plans to impose levies on Chinese vessels docking at U.S. ports. Those measures also target foreign-built car carriers, regardless of which country constructed them. Hoegh said the cost could top $1 million per vessel calling at the U.S.
The company could seek compensation for the fees and is likely to adjust schedules and operating patterns to minimize the costs it faces, CEO Andreas Enger said on an earnings call. The firm will seek to mitigate the measures’ effects, which in a worst-case scenario could amount to $60 million to $70 million.
Hoegh’s trade routes include Europe to the U.S. East Coast, and Europe to the Caribbean and Mexico.
