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Headlines

Global container shipping volume to fall 1% on Trump trade policies, Drewry says

Published by Global Banking and Finance Review

Posted on April 24, 2025

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By Lisa Baertlein

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) -Maritime consultancy Drewry said on Thursday that it expects global container port volume to fall 1% as a direct result of U.S. trade policies.

That would be the third drop in global container shipping demand since London-based Drewry began recording that data in 1979. Container volumes fell 8.4% during the global financial crisis in 2009 and 0.9% in 2020 when the COVID pandemic was declared.

The Trump administration's new policy includes blanket tariffs of 10% on goods from most countries and 145% ones on products from China. China and other countries have hit back with tariffs on U.S. goods.

"Assuming that 2/3 of current tariffs remain in place, U.S. imports from China could fall by 40%," the consultancy said in a slide presentation.

China dominates U.S. imports of consumer goods, industrial products and furniture.

Relocation of Chinese production to countries facing much lower tariffs could offset some of the decline in shipping demand. To that end, U.S. imports from other countries could increase as much as 15%, Drewry said.

Economists warn that President Donald Trump's trade policies raise the risk for a recession in the United States, the world's largest economy, that could spread to other nations around the world.

Worldwide economic output will slow in the months ahead as Trump's steep tariffs on virtually all trading partners begin to bite, the International Monetary Fund said earlier this week.

German container carrier Hapag-Lloyd said on Wednesday that customers have canceled 30% of shipments to the United States from China, spooked by the trade conflict between the world's two largest economies.

The National Retail Federation, whose members include Walmart and Target, forecast earlier this month that U.S. containerized import cargo volume would drop at least 20% year over year in the second half of 2025 as companies that source from China hit pause on orders.

Many containers from China land at the busiest U.S. port in Los Angeles. Its executive director warned that its import volumes could start falling as early as May.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Mark Porter)