Container shipping

Drewry: Global container volumes to drop 1% on Trump tariffs

President Donald Trump’s tariff war is expected to cut global container volume by 1% in 2025, Drewry said, only the third such forecast in its history.

That would amount to approximately 1.8 million twenty-foot equivalent units based on worldwide container traffic of 183.2 million TEUs in 2024, and approximately 10% of the more than 10 million-TEU increase in global traffic from 2023. 

Volume fell 8.4% during the financial crisis of 2009 and 0.9% during the COVID pandemic of 2020, said Drewry,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/drewry-global-container-volumes-to-drop-1-on-trump-tariffs

Chief negotiator on union longshore pact to lead USMX

The United States Maritime Alliance has chosen F. Paul De Maria to serve as chief executive and chairman of the port employers’ group.

De Maria was the alliance’s chief negotiator in contentious contract talks with the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA). The pact, one of the richest in the history of maritime labor, includes landmark provisions for automating container handling at East and Gulf Coast ports.

F. Paul De Maria (Photo: USMX)

De Maria succeeds David F. Adam, who retired...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/chief-negotiator-on-union-longshore-pact-to-lead-usmx

BNSF and UP say possible container glut doesn’t scare them

Since late last year, BNSF Railway and Union Pacific have been busy handling a surge of containers from West Coast ports as U.S. companies pulled forward imports to beat potential tariffs.

But now with a trade war underway — and tariffs as high as 145% on goods made in China — the number of containers bound to the U.S. from China has dropped precipitously. Container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd, for example, has seen its China-U.S. bookings drop by a third since tariffs were imposed on April 2. And...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/bnsf-and-up-say-possible-container-glut-doesnt-scare-them

Industry Update: Impact of New Tariffs on Tank Container Shipping – Bulletin 1

In view of the introduction of US tariffs, ITCO will be publishing a series of Bulletins on the possible impact on the tank container industry. Please find below Bulletin 1

Trump’s “Reciprocal Tariffs” Now in Effect
In April 2025, the Trump administration introduced a series of “reciprocal tariffs,” triggering widespread implications across international trade and transport. The tank container sector is among the most affected.

(Source LTB Shipping)

Trade Volumes Drop
The higher import tariffs are...

https://allaboutshipping.co.uk/2025/04/25/industry-update-impact-of-new-tariffs-on-tank-container-shipping-bulletin-1/

Trans-Pacific container rates stable as trade war rages

While shipments from China crater in President Donald Trump’s ongoing trade war, ocean container rates have yet to fully reflect the collapse in trans-Pacific volumes. 

Freight rates from Shanghai, China’s busiest container port complex, to Los Angeles, the largest U.S. import gateway, fell 2% to $2,617 per 40-foot container, according to analyst Drewry’s latest World Container Index released Thursday.

Shanghai to New York decreased 3%, or $95, to $3,611.

Rates from Los Angeles to Shanghai...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trans-pacific-container-rates-stable-as-trade-war-rages

Tariff and customs turmoil may pose the next big freight fraud risk

The unleashing of tariffs on a vast array of U.S. imports has raised the risk of customs fraud among all segments of the freight transportation supply chain, according to a fraud and compliance expert.

Kirti Reddy, a partner with the law firm Quarles & Brady and a former assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the speed and size of the new taxes on America’s trading partners will likely generate a higher number of cases prosecuted under the False Claims Act.

“A...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/tariff-and-customs-turmoil-may-pose-the-next-big-freight-fraud-risk

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