Worldwide container shipping volume to fall just one per cent on Trump trade reset, says Drewry

Maritime consultancy Drewry said on Thursday it expects global container port volume to fall just one per cent as a direct result of the US' trade policies.

That would be the third drop in global container shipping demand since London-based Drewry began collecting that data in 1979. Container volume fell 8.4 per cent during the global financial crisis in 2009 and 0.9 per cent in 2020 when the Covid pandemic was declared.

The Trump administration's current policy includes blanket tariffs of 10 per cent on goods from most countries and 145 per cent import duties products from China. China and other countries have hit back with tariffs on US goods.

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

China dominates US imports of consumer goods, industrial products and furniture, a situation the Trump administration is looking to change.

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

When the US escalated tariffs on China earlier this month, Berkshire Hathaway-owned RC Willey Home Furnishings hit pause on all orders from factories there, including some that were ready to be loaded on an outbound ship, said Jeff Child, President of the retailer that has stores in Utah, Nevada, Idaho and California.

At the same time, the company restarted orders from Vietnam. It stopped those orders when the Trump administration targeted that nation with tariffs of 46 per cent. RC Willey resumed orders when Vietnam tariffs were temporarily lowered to 10 per cent for 90 days.

Worldwide economic output would slow in the months ahead if Trump's steep tariffs on virtually all trading partners actually come into effect, the International Monetary Fund said earlier this week.

German container carrier Hapag-Lloyd said on Wednesday that customers have canceled 30 per cent 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 US containerized import cargo volume would drop at least 20 per cent 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 US 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 and Deepa Babington)