Quid Pro Quo? CMA CGM’s $20 Billion Investment in US Shipping
French container line CMA CGM Chairman and CEO Rodolphe Saadé recently visited the Oval Office and pledged to invest $20 billion in the United States’ shipping industry over the next four years. While the Trump administration applauds the world’s third largest container line’s commitment as a step toward enhancing U.S. maritime capabilities and infrastructure, some in the shipping industry are skeptical of CMA CGM’s motives.
CMA CGM's $20 billion pledge may be strategically timed to mitigate potential financial damage from a proposed policy targeting shipping operators with significant numbers of Chinese-built vessels, or who have ordered vessels from Chinese shipyards.
Under the newly proposed policy, operators with A) fleets of at least 25% Chinese-built ships or B) orders at Chinese shipyards would incur a hefty $1 million fee per U.S. port call.
Approximately one-third of CMA CGM’s 313 owned vessels were built in China and almost half of its orders for 76 new vessels are from Chinese shipyards.
CMA CGM currently has 104 U.S. port calls per week and could face an estimated $5.4 billion annually—or about $21.6 billion over four years—in additional fees.
