Unsurprisingly, container freight bookings have heavily declined from China to the United States, since Trump kicked off the trade war during recent weeks.

One article from CNBC’s website suggests that US imports from China dropped by 64% between week 14 and 15, with US exports to China falling by 36%.

As things stand, The US currently has a 145% duty rate applied to Chinese products and China has replied with 125% on American products.

As a result, hundreds of bookings have been cancelled with carriers, numerous blanked sailings have been announced, and at least three transpacific services have already been temporarily postponed.

According to The Loadstar, exports from other Asian countries have already fallen between 10% and 20%. However, this aspect may rally in the short term if American importers look to take advantage of Trump’s 90-day postponement of additional tariff fees.

The situation for ocean freight carriers is at best chaotic. While there is some hope that either Trump or China will blink soon, there will be an urgent need to cut or realign masses of capacity if they don’t.

Let’s hope that some common sense prevails soon, as we all monitor developments closely.

– Your MultiFreight Team