PCCs accelerate US car shipments ahead of looming tariffs

Car-carrying ships have sent more cargo from Europe and China, Japan and Korea to the United States in the first months of the year than last year, shipping data showed, in a sign of companies front-loading shipments ahead of looming tariffs.

A total of 33 Ro-Ro PCCs - mostly carrying new cars - left Europe for the US in February this year, up from 28 in February 2024, according to data analytics firm Esgian, which monitors shipping routes and ports worldwide.

Those ships will have been able to carry around 30,000 more vehicles across the Atlantic, said Stian Omli, Senior Vice President at Esgian.

From Japan, China and Korea, the number of car-carrying ships leaving for the US rose by eight in January from last year's levels to 69. Some of February's shipments were likely still on their way to the United States, Omli said, expecting the total monthly figure to be higher than last year's.

"Evidence points to increased activity from Europe and the far East...those two regions represent the major export regions to the US," Omli said.

The United States' announcement of a 25 per cent tariff on auto imports rippled through auto stocks on Thursday, with governments from Ottawa to Paris threatening retaliation even as car companies from BMW to Volkswagen pleaded for deals to avert a trade war.

While some carmakers have announced plans to expand US production, others have proceeded with more caution, with executives expressing doubt in private over whether threatened tariffs would indeed come into force.

In the past week, the number of car carriers bound for US ports from around the world rose five per cent to 89, Esgian's data showed.

(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee in Berlin Editing by Matthew Lewis)