China Lifts Sanctions on US Units of South Korean Shipbuilding Giant Hanwha

China announced on Monday that it would suspend sanctions against the US subsidiaries of Hanwha Ocean, one of South Korea’s largest shipbuilders, as a fragile trade truce between Washington and Beijing continues to evolve.

The United States and China have been engaged in a volatile trade and tariff dispute for several months. However, following a meeting last month between leaders Xi Jinping and Donald Trump in South Korea, both countries agreed to scale back some of their punitive measures.

The year-long suspension of sanctions against Hanwha, which will take effect from 10th November, was linked to the US decision to halt port fees that had previously been imposed on Chinese-built and operated vessels. This was confirmed in an online statement issued by China’s commerce ministry.

“In light of the suspension of the US measures… China has decided to suspend the relevant sanctions for one year,” the statement read.

Earlier, in October, China had imposed sanctions on five US subsidiaries of Hanwha, accusing them of supporting a US government “Section 301” investigation that deemed China’s dominance in the shipbuilding industry as unreasonable.

As a result, organisations and individuals in China had been prohibited from cooperating with several Hanwha subsidiaries, including Hanwha Shipping LLC, Hanwha Philly Shipyard Inc., Hanwha Ocean USA International LLC, Hanwha Shipping Holdings LLC, and HS USA Holdings Corp.

In August, Hanwha had announced a significant $5 billion investment in Philly Shipyard, located in the US city of Philadelphia.