Hapag-Lloyd CEO Cautious on Trump Tariffs, but Praises ‘Very Healthy’ Demand

 Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen isn’t ruling out a pre-Lunar New Year rush of imports ahead of a second Trump administration, but stopped short of calling the scenario an inevitability.

The caution from the container shipping chief follows concerns from many supply chain stakeholders of a spike in container prices if President-elect Donald Trump goes ahead with plans to levy universal tariffs of 10 percent to 20 percent on all U.S. imports, and duties ranging from 60 percent to 100 percent for China-made goods.

In a third quarter earnings call, Habben Jansen said it was “difficult to judge” how much of the expected increase in imports is due to front-loading cargo into the U.S. ahead of Trump’s inauguration, but described current demand as “very healthy.”

“When we look at the impact of the change in administration, I think that remains to be seen,” said Habben Jansen. “The first time when Trump was in power, we have certainly seen some effects of the tariffs that he imposed, in particular for goods coming out of China. We saw also, on the other hand, that that did not necessarily mean that global trade went down, but it’s more that flows have changed. And I would not be surprised if that’s going to be something similar this time.”

Habben Jansen pointed out the early summer surge in imports as a potential harbinger of things to come as the inauguration and the Lunar New Year get closer. In that period, shippers brought product into the U.S. earlier than usual ahead of the typical peak shipping season and the anticipated Oct. 1 East and Gulf Coast port strikes.

“That would have most likely an effect on short-term rates,” Habben Jansen said. “How big that is going to be, that’s too early to tell.” He also said it was still too speculative to acknowledge whether there will be some destocking or restocking after the Lunar New Year.

Although concerns of a second strike at the East and Gulf Coast ports persist throughout the apparel supply chain, Hapag-Lloyd is “not preparing for that at the moment,” said chief financial officer Mark Frese in the call.

Global container volumes have risen by 6.3 percent year-to-date, marking the highest growth rate since 2021, the company said, with Habben Jansen saying “demand has been much stronger than everyone expected.”

Hapag-Lloyd expects container market demand growth to be roughly 3 percent throughout 2025, in line with expected global gross domestic product (GDP) growth numbers from the International Monetary Fund.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hapag-lloyd-ceo-cautious-trump-192515457.html