China to US ocean cargo bookings surge after tariff pause, Vizion says

[LOS ANGELES] United States bookings for container transport from China to the US spiked almost 300 per cent in the wake of the United States and China pausing punishing tit-for-tat tariffs, container-tracking software provider Vizion said on Wednesday.

The average bookings for the seven days ended Wednesday soared 277 per cent to 21,530 20-foot equivalent units from 5,709 TEUs for the average for the seven days that ended on May 5, said Ben Tracy, the company’s vice-president of strategic business development.

US importers slammed the brakes on shipments after April 2, when Trump announced plans to slap 145 per cent tariffs on goods made in China.

That trade restarted after the United States and China on Monday announced a 90-day thaw in their bruising trade war.

The United States said it would reduce tariffs it imposed on Chinese imports in April to 30 per cent from 145 per cent, while China reduced duties on US imports to 10 per cent from 125 per cent.

“We are definitely starting to see the bookings return now that this temporary pause is in effect,” Tracy said.

German container shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd earlier on Wednesday said its bookings were up 50 per cent for US-China traffic week on week in the first few days of this week.

When asked about Washington and Beijing’s tariff truce, CEO Rolf Habben Jansen told Reuters: “I expect that there will be additional volume between China and the US. That is what we have already seen in the last few days.” REUTERS