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Under threats of tariffs and other sanctions from the U.S., nations postponed a vote on whether to charge fees on emissions from ships.
Oct. 17, 2025Updated 11:57 a.m. ET
Using a battering ram of trade and visa threats, the Trump administration on Friday blocked the adoption of a landmark global measure that would have imposed a global pollution tax on the shipping industry.
Countries meeting in London at the International Maritime Organization, an organization of 176 countries under the umbrella of the United Nations, were supposed to take a final vote Friday on a measure requiring cargo ships to lower their greenhouse gas emissions to a certain threshold or pay a fee.
It had been provisionally adopted in April with the backing of the leading shipping lobby and most of America’s allies, including Britain, Canada, the European Union and Japan. China too supported the measure.
The United States, backed by Russia and Saudi Arabia, pushed to delay the adoption by a year. The motion to delay was narrowly passed in a vote of 57 to 49, with other nations absent or abstaining.
The Trump administration brought a raft of threats to dissuade countries from voting for the measure, including visa restrictions and additional fees on flagged ships from those countries landing at U.S. ports.
On Thursday President Trump said he was “outraged” that the organization was considering a carbon-emissions price on global shipping. “The United States will NOT stand for this Global Green New Scam Tax on Shipping, and will not adhere to it in any way, shape or form,” he wrote in a social media post.
