Logistics and SME firms brace for boom in shipments
Hong Kong's foreign trade is expected to rise sharply as exporters are rushing to send their shipments out to the US during the 90-day tariff pause between Beijing and Washington. Photo: RTHK
Representatives from the logistics sector and small and medium-sized companies said on Wednesday Hong Kong can expect a sharp rise in outbound shipments as exporters seize the window of opportunity presented by a truce over the next 90 days in tariffs to send goods to the United States.
The temporary Sino-US truce took effect at noon on Wednesday.
Under the deal, the United States agreed to lower its tariffs on Chinese goods to 30 percent while China will reduce its own to 10 percent over the next 90 days.
Speaking on an RTHK programme, Gary Lau, chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics, said he expects export volumes and demand to pick up as early as next week.
"I think we might still need about four or five more days to digest the new measures as we have to go through the logistical procedures after all and coordinate with importers overseas," he said.
"[But] I believe there'll be a more obvious turnaround next week as demand will soar significantly for local exporters during the 90-day grace period.
"And there could be more demand for air freight due to increased requests from e-commerce platforms."
The logistics veteran also noted that while a majority of the firms will opt to ship by sea due to cost factors, businesses with more urgent transport needs might turn to air freight, but air transport costs could soar by at least 40 to 50 percent.
Following the truce, the United States also more than halved the duties for small parcels shipped from the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau to 54 percent. Such charges are under "de minimis" duties on small packages valued at less than US$800.
"Now you say that the tariffs are reduced to about 50 percent, but we have a saying 'wool comes from the sheep's back', so those tariffs are still borne by consumers," Lau said.
"And the tariffs are actually still too high."
Lau estimated that the volume of small parcels being sent over to the United States from China under the new 54 percent tariff would only reach 70 to 80 percent of levels just before the tariff war and called for more reductions.
"Our industry is currently asking that these tax rates be lowered to 20 to 30 percent, which will be within our expectations," he said.
"That's why we hope the governments from the two sides might have further preferential measures for us."
For his part, Andrew Kwok, president of the Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Association, said he expects more positive news soon, as US President Donald Trump has said he might speak with President Xi Jinping at the end of the week.
"Of course it's difficult to predict Trump's moves as he could change his mind in a couple of days," said the head of the SME body.
"But I believe that it is very unpleasant for people in the US to see tariffs being increased to such an abnormal level.
"So from this viewpoint, I believe it's not very likely that the tariffs will return to the high level.
"For us, we are very optimistic as China has been proved strategically right in dealing with the United States, and we are looking forward to better news emerging [when Trump speaks with Xi].
Kwok also noted that the small and medium-sized enterprises in Hong Kong have been exploring new markets, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
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