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Amid rising trade tensions, a scheduled conversation between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping was canceled, with no rescheduled date. The ongoing tariff dispute has intensified, with the US imposing a blanket 10% tariff on all Chinese imports, while China plans to impose tariffs of 15% on LNG and coal and 10% on oil, agricultural machinery, and large-displacement cars from the US.

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Despite years of tariff measures under both Trump and Biden, trade data from Linerlytica reveals that import tariffs have failed to reduce the US trade deficit. In 2024, US container imports exceeded exports by 2.4 times, with total laden imports growing 24% since 2017, while exports declined by 8%. This imbalance has led to a significant rise in empty container repositioning.

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Experts suggest that tariffs have had minimal long-term effects on trade flows. Maritime economist Martin Stopford argues that trade barriers are difficult to sustain, while Precious Shipping's managing director, Khalid Hashim, notes that past tariff disruptions have only resulted in short-term impacts before leading to increased trade volumes.

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In energy markets, Braemar analysts predict that China’s tariffs on US crude and coal imports will have little effect on shipping dynamics. While the loss of US crude exports to China may reduce VLCC demand slightly, other Northeast Asian importers are expected to compensate. Similarly, despite record US coal exports to China in 2024, their share remains marginal compared to China’s overall coal imports, limiting the impact on global trade flows.

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Source: Read more on Splash247: US Container Imbalance Worsens Despite Tariffs

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