BEIJING : Container lines would have had no choice but to pay enormous US Port fees under the draft proposal. The final decision should allow most liner operators to avoid fees by redeploying ships. It also singles out one company — China’s Cosco — with the severest penalties.

When ships confront an obstacle — a congestion-clogged port, a drought-stricken canal, a militia-harried strait — they just sail around it. US port fees on Chinese vessels, when they begin in October, are just another hindrance to circumvent.