Global transport leaders warn of rising risks from US tariffs at ITF 2025
LEIPZIG, Germany ― Global transport executives voiced concerns over escalating trade wars, particularly driven by tariff measures imposed by the US, and their impact on maritime transport at the International Transport Forum 2025's annual summit in Leipzig, Germany.
'The transport links that connect the world are under pressure and governments face enormous tasks to protect transport infrastructure against increasing disruptions,' said Kim Young-tae, secretary-general of the International Transport Forum, during a press conference at the Congress Center Leipzig on Wednesday.
'(One of their challenges is the global industries') more connected, and therefore more vulnerable, supply chains. Maritime transport moves around 75 percent of global cargo, and these disruptions can have an immediate impact.'
Kim highlighted the Red Sea crisis, which has effectively forced vessels to abandon their most efficient sea routes, leading to a surge in international freight rates.
'We know that we're passing through very difficult moments, including the tariff issues, geopolitical tensions and (ongoing challenges) since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020,' Kim noted. 'I think that's why the platform like the ITF should play (a role as) a very efficient and productive gathering of different views from different actors from the world.'
Kim urged many countries to join the ITF to enhance diversity and strengthen collaboration on key agendas, noting that out of the 69 member countries, 44 are from Europe.
Claudia Stutz, state secretary of the Ministry of Transport of Germany, also expressed concerns on the ongoing trade dispute, saying, 'For Germany, our focus has shifted significantly due to the global crisis and geopolitical tensions. Economic security and supply (chain) and the protection of critical infrastructure have taken center stage. … Increasing the resilience of transport change is a key objective of German transport and infrastructure policy.'
Germany, which primarily exports automobiles, pharmaceuticals, machinery and electrical equipment to the US, is among the European countries most affected by the tariff policies initiated by US President Donald Trump. According to the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, Germany is expected to incur losses of 290 billion euros ($329 billion) in the next four years due to the "reciprocal tariffs" from the US.
Under Chile's presidency this year, the annual ITF summit has been running from Tuesday to Friday, drawing approximately 1,253 participants, including 57 ministerial-level delegations, along with representatives from international organizations and businesses.
Founded in 2006, the ITF at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is the largest annual gathering of transport ministers in Leipzig, serving as a platform to address global transport issues and policies. South Korea joined the European Conference of Ministers of Transport, the predecessor of the ITF, in 2000.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
8 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Zelenskiy in Berlin for online meeting with Trump, European leaders
BERLIN/KYIV (Reuters) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited Berlin on Wednesday for a German-hosted virtual meeting with Donald Trump and European leaders, two days before the US president meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Europe's leaders are trying to drive home the perils of selling out Kyiv's interests at the first US-Russia summit since 2021. Trump has said the Alaska talks will be a "feel-out" meeting as he pursues a ceasefire in Moscow's war on Ukraine, having said last week, to consternation in Kyiv and Europe, that any deal would involve "some swapping of territories." Zelenskiy shook hands with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz before disappearing into bilateral talks. The two men will take part in a video conference with the leaders of Finland, France, Britain, Italy, Poland and the European Union at 2 p.m., local time. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will also attend. Trump and Vice President JD Vance will join the call at 3 p.m. "Will be speaking to European Leaders in a short while. They are great people who want to see a deal done," Trump wrote on Truth Social. The unpredictability of the summit in Alaska has fuelled Europeans' fears that the US and Russia could take far-reaching decisions over their heads and even seek to coerce Ukraine into an unfavorable deal. "We are focusing now to ensure that it does not happen -- engaging with US partners and staying coordinated and united on the European side," said one senior official from Eastern Europe. Wary of angering Trump, European leaders have repeatedly said they welcome his efforts while stressing that there should be no deal about Ukraine -- almost a fifth of which Russia has occupied -- without Ukraine's participation. Trump's administration tempered expectations on Tuesday, telling reporters the summit would be a "listening exercise" for him to hear what it would take to get to a deal. Trump's agreement last week to the summit was an abrupt shift after weeks of voicing frustration with Putin for resisting the US peace initiative. Trump said his envoy had made "great progress" at talks in Moscow. Half a dozen senior European officials told Reuters that they see a risk of a deal being struck that is unfavorable for Europe and Ukraine's security. They said European unity would be vital if that happened. After the meeting with Trump, the "coalition of the willing," a group of countries working on plans to support Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire, will also convene online. A Gallup poll released last week found that 69 percent of Ukrainians favor a negotiated end to the war as soon as possible. But polls also indicate Ukrainians do not want peace at any cost if that means crushing concessions. Ahead of the calls, Zelenskiy said it would be impossible for Kyiv to agree to a deal that would require it to withdraw its troops from the eastern Donbas region, a large swathe of which is already occupied by Russia. That, he told reporters on Tuesday, would deprive Ukraine of a vast defensive network in the region, easing the way for a Russian push deeper into Ukraine in the future. He said territorial issues could only be discussed once a ceasefire was in place and Ukraine had received security guarantees. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexei Fadeev said Moscow's stance had not changed since it was set out by Putin in June 2024. As preconditions for a ceasefire and the start of negotiations, the Kremlin leader had demanded that Ukraine withdraw its forces from four regions that Russia has claimed as its own but does not fully control, and formally renounce its plans to join NATO. Kyiv swiftly rejected the conditions as tantamount to surrender.
Korea Herald
10 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Jailed ex-first lady to appear for questioning by special counsel
Jailed former first lady Kim Keon Hee will appear for questioning by a special counsel team Thursday, less than two days after her arrest over corruption allegations. Special counsel Min Joong-ki's team said Wednesday it was informed by Seoul Southern Detention Center, where Kim was placed in custody earlier in the day, that she plans to comply with the summons for 10 a.m. Thursday. The team had said earlier she was asked to appear at its office at the KT Gwanghwamun West building in central Seoul at that time for her first questioning since her arrest. She is expected to travel to the office in a justice ministry prison van. The Seoul Central District Court issued a warrant for her arrest late Tuesday, citing concerns she could destroy evidence. Kim faces charges of participating in a stock price manipulation scheme involving Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in South Korea, from 2009 to 2012, meddling in candidate nominations for the 2022 parliamentary by-elections and 2024 general elections, and receiving luxury gifts from the Unification Church through a shaman in exchange for business favors. Min's team had requested the warrant on charges of violations of the Capital Market Act, the Political Funds Act and a law on the acceptance of bribes for mediation. Kim's arrest made her and her husband, former President Yoon Suk Yeol, the first presidential couple to be detained simultaneously. Yoon is under arrest at a different detention center over charges related to his failed attempt to impose martial law in December. (Yonhap)
Korea Herald
14 hours ago
- Korea Herald
With Kim Keon Hee in custody, special probe gains momentum
Kim detained in 6.6-square-meter solitary cell, scheduled to appear for questioning Thursday The special counsel investigating multiple allegations against former first lady Kim Keon Hee is expected to accelerate its work after a court approved her arrest Tuesday evening. Within hours of the court's decision, the team led by Special Counsel Min Joong-ki carried out search and seizure operations at 21 Gram. The local interior design firm is at the center of controversy over the presidential office's relocation from Cheong Wa Dae to Yongsan. Investigators are examining claims that unqualified companies, including 21 Gram, received preferential treatment during the relocation and expansion of the presidential office and residence under former President Yoon Suk Yeol. The company had previously sponsored Covana Contents, an exhibition agency run by Kim, and designed its office — links that critics say point to possible personal favoritism. In 2022, the civic group People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy petitioned the Board of Audit and Inspection, alleging that the relocation wasted public funds and that the government improperly favored certain firms. The Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea announced that 21 Gram violated the Framework Act on the Construction Industry as the company began its work before signing an official contract and outsourced tasks to 15 unqualified subcontractors in September 2024. The Interior Ministry filed a complaint with the police against 21 Gram a month after the BAI's report was released. The National Assembly had requested then-President Yoon to approve the special counsel bill to investigate his wife's alleged preferential treatment in the construction project of the presidential office and residence since March 2023. Yoon, however, continued to exercise veto power on the bill regarding the special counsel probe until November last year. A month later, he declared martial law and allegedly ordered the military to enter the National Assembly and the National Election Commission. For the first time in South Korean history, a former president and first lady are both behind bars. Kim faces 16 charges, including violations of capital market, financial investment and political funds laws. Her arrest marks a dramatic fall for the ex-first couple following Yoon's failed martial law declaration. Yoon has been held at the Seoul Detention Center since July 10. Kim, 53, is also the first former first lady in the nation's history to be placed under arrest. The court said the warrant was issued late Tuesday over 'concerns that Kim might tamper with evidence' in connection with allegations of stock price manipulation involving imported car dealer Deutsch Motors, bribery, and influence-peddling in the 2022 by-elections. She awaited the court's decision at the Seoul Southern Detention Center in Guro-gu, western Seoul, before receiving her inmate number, undergoing a medical check, and having her fingerprints and photograph taken. Given her status as the former president's wife, Kim was assigned a roughly 6.6-square-meter solitary cell, furnished with a cabinet, television, sink, bathroom, foldable table and mattress. Under the Criminal Procedure Act, the prosecutors have up to 20 days to conduct their investigation and decide whether to indict the suspect on the respective charges. If the special counsel indicts Kim over her alleged roles in the criminal offenses, the former first lady could remain in custody for a maximum of 18 months, as each of the three tiers of district, appellate and Supreme Court permits up to six months of detention. Presidential security personnel who were previously assigned to Kim have also been withdrawn. The Former President Special Treatment Act allows security and protection for a former president and their spouse for a limited time. However, since Kim has been taken into custody and handed over to correctional authorities, these privileges no longer apply. Kim is scheduled to appear for questioning by the special counsel at 10 a.m. Thursday. She is expected to travel without security personnel, accompanied instead by correctional officers and transported in a convoy.
