Trade & Customs Oct 14, 2026 · 7 min read

FMC proposes Spain ship fees and import curbs

US regulator targets Spanish olive oil and tile, not just Spanish ships. The US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) has proposed a $200,000 fee on every voyage a Spanish-flagged ship makes into a US port, plus possible import limits on five groups of Spanish goods. Our view: the fee is for show; the goods list is the pressure. The FMC itself says “relatively few” Spanish-flagged ships call at US ports. The goods in scope were worth about $3.1 billion in 2025, olive oil alone nearly $837 million. Affected importers should comment by mid-December. Our call: nothing takes effect before February 2027.

The $200,000 ship fee is the headline. The olive oil and tile list is the weapon. On 14 October the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) proposed a $200,000 fee on every voyage a Spanish-flagged ship makes into a US port. In the same notice it proposed limits on imports of five groups of Spanish goods. Those goods were worth about $3.1 billion to US importers last year.
Our view is simple. The ship fee will raise almost nothing, because hardly any Spanish-flagged ships come to the US. The import list is the part with teeth. It is aimed at the cargo, so it lands on American buyers of Spanish olive oil, floor tile, stone and perfume, and on the forwarders and carriers who move those boxes across the Atlantic.

What the FMC proposed

The FMC is the US regulator for ocean shipping. It has the power to act against foreign governments that create “unfavorable conditions” for US shipping. It opened this case in December 2024.
Its press release says: “The FMC’s investigation found conclusive evidence that Spain denied U.S.-flagged vessels access to its ports, and that these actions created unfavorable shipping conditions in the foreign trade.”
The draft rule has two parts.
First, a vessel fee. The proposed text reads: “A fee of two hundred thousand dollars is assessed each time a Spanish vessel enters any port of the United States from any foreign port or place.”
Second, import restrictions. The notice lists five HTS chapters. HTS is the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, the code system US customs uses to classify goods. The chapters are:

Chapter 33: perfumery and cosmetics

Chapter 15: oils and fats

Chapter 69: ceramics

Chapter 68: articles of stone

Chapter 17: sugar and confectionery

The notice carves out retail medicines and some electrical transformers, citing health concerns and a transformer shortage.
According to gCaptain, the FMC could also ask the Department of Homeland Security to deny entry to, or detain, ships carrying restricted goods, or Spanish-flagged ships that do not pay. gCaptain also reports the FMC could raise fees or widen the list if Spain retaliates against US carriers or shippers.
Nothing is final. The FMC is asking for public comment on every part of the plan, and it will offer Spain a hearing. The notice was filed on 14 October and scheduled for Federal Register publication on 15 October. Comments are due 60 days after publication, which points to mid-December. The docket is FMC-2026-0463.

How this started

The dispute began in November 2024. Spanish authorities refused port access to US-flagged ships operated by Maersk Line, Limited. They included the Maersk Denver and Maersk Seletar. gCaptain reports the refusals were over cargo connected to Israel. FreightWaves reported the ships had been due at APM Terminals in Algeciras, in southern Spain.
These were not ordinary container ships. They sail in the Maritime Security Program, a US government scheme that gives US-flagged ships financial support in return for being available for national defence needs. That is why Washington treats this as a strategic issue rather than a commercial spat.
In December 2025 the FMC raised the stakes. FreightWaves reported then that federal regulations allow fines of up to $2.3 million per voyage, and that the launch of the investigation had drawn more than 8,000 comments.
Spain says its measures comply with Spanish, EU and international law and do not discriminate by flag, according to gCaptain’s account of the record. The FMC rejected that. It found Spain had denied docking outright, rather than just restricting particular cargo.

The numbers behind the decision

The FMC’s case rests on what happened to port calls. Its notice says Maersk Line, Limited ships made about 7.25 calls a month in Spain before November 2024. In 2026 so far, they have made six in total. Traffic moved across the Strait of Gibraltar. The notice says Tangier, Morocco now averages 4.17 calls a month by the same fleet. gCaptain adds that the FMC cited confidential evidence that nearly all Maritime Security Program ships had stopped calling at Spanish ports.
Now look at the other side of the ledger. The notice concedes there are “relatively few Spanish-flagged vessels that call at U.S. ports.” gCaptain reports the FMC itself said the vessel fees alone would not fully address the problem. A $200,000 fee on a handful of calls is a rounding error for Spain.
The goods are where the money is. The FMC’s notice gives 2025 US import values from Spain:

Oils and fats (chapter 15): $1.15 billion, of which olive oil was $836.9 million

Perfumery and cosmetics (chapter 33): nearly $940 million, of which perfumes and toilet waters were nearly $700 million

Ceramics (chapter 69): $634.7 million, of which ceramic tiles were $523.7 million

Stone (chapter 68): $270.6 million

Sugar and confectionery (chapter 17): $138.8 million

Those add up to roughly $3.1 billion, the figure gCaptain reports. This list was not chosen at random. Olive oil and tile are among the products Spain is best known for in the US market. Picking them puts pressure on Spanish exporters and the regions that rely on them.
That is why we read the ship fee as cover and the goods list as the message.

What happened last time

The FMC has done this before, and it is worth knowing how that ended.
In 1997 the FMC went after Japan over restrictive port practices. Its final rule imposed “$100,000 per voyage sanctions against Japanese carriers entering United States ports.” The rule was issued in February 1997, then delayed. It finally took effect on 4 September 1997. Fees began to pile up.
About ten weeks later, on 13 November 1997, the FMC suspended the rule after the two governments and industry signed new agreements. By then, according to a later Federal Register notice, “accrued fees of $1.5 million were paid by the Japanese carriers.” The FMC formally removed the rule in 1999.
The lesson: these powers work as leverage for a deal. The fee in 1997 actually started to accrue before Tokyo moved. That suggests the FMC is willing to pull the trigger if talks stall. The difference this time is that the target includes goods, not just carriers. That widens who gets hurt on the US side.

What it means for forwarders

Here is where we think the impact lands.
Spain-to-US ocean freight. Spanish olive oil, tile and stone move mostly in containers on Mediterranean–North America services. If import limits are adopted, those volumes could fall sharply. Carriers whose transatlantic loops lean on Spanish ports would feel it first.
All carriers, not just Spanish ones. If the FMC asks Homeland Security to deny entry to or detain ships carrying restricted goods, any carrier calling Spain and then the US is exposed. A single mis-declared box of tile could, in principle, hold up a whole ship. Expect carriers to tighten booking checks on Spanish-origin cargo the moment a final rule appears.
Importers need a plan now. Customers who buy Spanish olive oil, tile, stone, cosmetics or confectionery should check how much stock they hold and how quickly they could switch supplier. Other Mediterranean suppliers are the obvious place to look. Forwarders that handle these customers should raise it with them this month.
Comment while it counts. The FMC invites public comment on all aspects of the plan. Importers, NVOCCs (non-vessel-operating common carriers, the forwarders that issue their own bills of lading) and customs brokers can file. The mid-December deadline is the best chance to shape which products stay on the list.
Watch for retaliation. gCaptain reports the FMC could escalate if Spain hits back at US carriers or shippers. Spain is an EU member, so any response could come from Brussels as well as Madrid. That would widen the risk beyond these five product groups.

Our prediction

We expect no fee or import restriction to take effect before February 2027. The comment window runs to mid-December, Spain gets a hearing, and the FMC must weigh what could be a large volume of comments. That process does not fit inside the holiday season.
We also expect US importers to pull forward Spanish olive oil and tile orders through November and December as a hedge. Watch for firmer bookings on Spain-to-US East Coast sailings over the next six weeks.
Finally, if a final rule does come, we think it will keep olive oil and ceramic tile on the list. Olive oil is the largest single product line in the FMC’s own figures, and tile makes up most of the ceramics total. The agency picked them for a reason. As in 1997, the most likely end point is a negotiated climbdown in which Spain lets US-flagged ships back into its ports, with the import list kept on the shelf as a threat.

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