President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly considering dialing down potential port call fees for Chinese shipping companies and ocean freight carriers that have China-made ships in their fleets after receiving a maelstrom of criticism from industry groups during a recent public hearing and public comment period on the proposal.

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has been considering charging fees that could, depending on various parameters, cost Chinese shippers and shippers that use China-built vessels over $3 million when tallied up every time one of their boats comes to port in the United States.

Businesses and organizations across sectors railed against the proposal, saying it would send the price of shipping skyrocketing, reduce the number of carriers servicing the U.S., cause job losses at ports, spike inflation and trigger supply chain disruption that would make importing and exporting longer and more complicated.

All of that carries relevance for the promotional products industry, which imports the majority of products it sells in the United States via ship. Higher importing costs could, for instance, contribute to steeper prices on promo products at a time when those prices are already rising because of tariffs that the Trump administration has put in place.

Faced with the cacophony of criticism, the Trump administration is considering delaying implementing the fees and/or coming up with new fee structures, Reuters reported. The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed sources who said the administration’s “new plan is to base the fees largely on vessel capacity, resulting in lower fees for smaller ships coming into ports such as Los Angeles, New York, Savannah, Ga., and Oakland, Calif.”

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on April 9 said USTR should have a finalized plan ready by the middle of April. An executive order that President Donald Trump signed this week requires the plan to be completed by April 17.

Trump is interested in using fees collected to help jumpstart the ailing American shipbuilding industry and to counteract China’s global dominance of the shipbuilding and maritime trade. Greer told Senators this week that not all the fees originally proposed are going to be implemented.

“This could have been a miscommunication issue; some people thought that all of those measures would be imposed,” Greer said. “Now we consider which of those measures is most appropriate.”

Trump’s executive order on shipbuilding also instructs Greer and his team to consider proposing tariffs on cargo handling equipment and on ship-to-shore cranes manufactured, assembled or made using parts of Chinese origin – or made anywhere on Earth by a company controlled by a Chinese citizen. Such tariffs, if ever brought to bear, could also contribute to higher costs for importers and exporters.

The president’s order contains other proposed measures aimed at helping to bolster the domestic shipbuilding industry, including the potential creation of a Maritime Security Trust Fund. This could be used to provide funding for programs focused on building U.S. maritime strength.