China suspends sanctions on five US subsidiaries of Hanwha Ocean for one year following US-China trade truce and reciprocal tariff rollbacks
BEIJING: China announced Monday it would suspend sanctions against US subsidiaries of South Korean shipbuilding giant Hanwha Ocean for one year.
The suspension effective from November 10 comes as part of a fragile trade truce between Washington and Beijing.
China’s commerce ministry said the decision was linked to the United States halting port fees it had imposed on Chinese-built and operated ships.
“In light of this (US suspension)… China has decided to suspend the relevant measures” for one year, the ministry stated online.
China had imposed sanctions on five US Hanwha subsidiaries in October, accusing them of supporting a US government “Section 301” investigation.
That investigation had found Beijing’s dominance of the shipbuilding industry unreasonable.
The sanctioned entities included Hanwha Shipping LLC, Hanwha Philly Shipyard Inc., Hanwha Ocean USA International LLC, Hanwha Shipping Holdings LLC and HS USA Holdings Corp.
Chinese organisations and individuals had been banned from cooperating with these companies.
Hanwha announced a $5 billion investment in Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in August.
The US-China trade truce emerged after leaders Xi Jinping and Donald Trump met last month in South Korea.
Both nations have been engaged in a volatile trade and tariff war for months before agreeing to walk back some punitive measures. – AFP
