The shipping industry appeared to breathe a sigh of relief after President Donald Trump's decision to pause reciprocal tariffs on foreign imports for 90 days, with bookings for freight deliveries surging.
Trump on Wednesday ordered the pause for most of the U.S.'s largest trading partners, with the exception of China, but still is maintaining a baseline of 10% tariffs on nearly all global imports.
"We started seeing a ton of bookings cancel at origin over the ocean as early as last week, and as we got closer to the tariff date on [Wednesday] we saw more cancellations," Paul Brashier, vice president of global supply chain for ITS Logistics, told CNBC on Thursday. "But with this recent announcement on the pause on tariffs with the exception of China, we may have orders rebooked from those regions."
The European Union said Thursday it will pause its first wave of retaliatory tariffs on a number of U.S. exports for 90 days, according to CNBC.
Andrew Abbott, CEO of Atlantic Container Line, which serves the Europe/North American trade, told CNBC that freight holds as a result of the tariffs have been released, with bookings skyrocketing from the tariff pause.
"We are expecting a surge of freight during this pause," Abbott said. "We are seeing orders in everything from construction equipment, engines, truck parts, dinnerware, cranes, agriculture equipment, and booze, among a lot of others. The ships are filling up."
Abbott said companies that put shipments on hold now feel like they are being rewarded.
"Even the British car guys have booked for May sailings," Abbott said.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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