Latest news with #China-to-US
The Sun
6 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Asia-US shipping rates to fall further amid tariff turmoil
SINGAPORE: Asia-US sea freight rates are set to drop further in 2025 as shipping capacity outpaces demand and trade routes shift due to tariffs and geopolitical tensions, though vessel rerouting is expected to limit some losses, industry experts said. Average spot rates for containers from Asia to the US west and east coasts have slumped by 58% and 46% respectively, since June 1 and are expected to fall further, according to shipping analytics firm Xeneta. Adding to uncertainty are unresolved trade talks between the US and China. Officials from the world's top two economies last week agreed to seek an extension of their 90-day tariff truce. The China-US trade lane remains one of the most profitable for container ship operators. Sea freight saw a brief uptick in late May and early June as shippers took advantage of a 90-day pause in US President Donald Trump's tariffs, but rates quickly fell as capacity outweighed demand, Xeneta data showed. 'There is significant overcapacity globally and this will continue to shape the market,' said Erik Devetak, Xeneta's chief technology and data officer. 'China-to-US trade is dampened and the EU economy is not exactly hot, so blanked sailings and cancellations will become a recurring theme as carriers desperately try to keep freight rates up,' Devetek said. Blanked sailing refers to cancelled port calls or voyages. Logistics major DHL noted that spot rates, which rose in the early summer surge of traffic from Asia to North America, have since reversed. 'Carriers rushed to add capacity on the transpacific to chase early gains, but oversupply is becoming apparent as the momentum fades,' said Niki Frank, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding Asia Pacific. Jarl Milford, maritime analyst at Veson Nautical, expects rates to decline steadily in the second half when more vessels are expected to enter the market. 'Ongoing uncertainty, including tariff policy and slowing global demand, adds continued pressure,' Milford said. Ocean Network Express, a joint venture between Japan's Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Nippon Yusen, said last week that 'recent trade uncertainties further complicate visibility for the latter half of the fiscal year'. A key factor helping absorb some of the excess capacity, however, is the rerouting of vessels from traditional sailings. Carriers are diverting from the Red Sea following attacks by Yemeni Houthis, and some are bypassing US ports to avoid tariffs. These longer voyages are soaking up more ships and helping provide a floor for rates, analysts said. 'These diversions continue to soak up in excess of 10% of containership supply, leading capacity utilisation to a healthy level in the 86-87% range,' analysts at Jefferies Research wrote, referring to the Red Sea. And while China's exports to the US have fallen, shipments elsewhere have climbed. Jefferies analysts said spot bookings to the US in recent weeks suggest July volumes are likely to be down, pushing transpacific freight rates to their lowest this year, but rates to markets such as Europe and Latin America remain elevated. – Reuters
BusinessToday
31-07-2025
- Business
- BusinessToday
US Ends Tariff Exemption For Low-Value Packages Amid Trade Crackdown
US Port of Long Beach The United States will scrap a long-standing 'de minimis' exemption that allowed low-value shipments to enter the country without tariffs, the White House announced on Wednesday. Under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, packages worth US$800 or less sent outside the international postal system will be subject to 'all applicable duties' starting August 29. The exemption, which fuelled a boom in cross-border e-commerce, previously enabled retailers and consumers to bypass customs duties on small shipments. 'Trump is acting more quickly to suspend the de minimis exemption than the OBBBA requires, to deal with national emergencies and save American lives and businesses now,' the White House said, referring to the recently signed One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The legislation will fully repeal the exemption worldwide in July 2027, but Trump's move accelerates the timeline. Goods sent through postal networks will face either an ad valorem duty equal to the originating country's tariff rate or a temporary fixed tariff of US$80 to US$200 for six months. The exemption's removal follows Trump's earlier actions targeting packages from China and Hong Kong. Since May, shipments from both markets have faced tariffs as high as 145%, later reduced to around 30% after a trade truce in mid-May. Low-value e-commerce, particularly from Asia, has become a major driver of air freight, accounting for 55% of China-to-US air shipments in 2024 compared to just 5% in 2018. Platforms like Shein and PDD Holdings' Temu have benefited from the previous duty-free regime. Annual de minimis shipments surged from 134 million in 2015 to over 1.36 billion by 2024, with US Customs processing more than 4 million packages daily. Air cargo volumes from Asia have already dropped 10.7% since the US ended tax-free treatment for low-value goods from China in May. Republican Senator Jim Banks welcomed the policy shift, saying, 'For too long, countries like China have flooded our markets with duty-free, cheap imports.' Reuters Related
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Slaps India, a ‘Friend' to the US, With 25% Tariffs
Confirming rumblings from recent days, President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced 25-percent duties on imports from India—along with a penalty on the country for purchasing military equipment and oil from Russia amid the Ukraine war. The news comes two days after the Commander in Chief told reporters he planned to confirm India's new tariff rate—which is one point lower than the rate announced on 'Liberation Day' in April—ahead of the Aug. 1 tariff deadline. Trump has repeatedly decried the South Asian nation's growing trade imbalance with the United States—which amounts to about $45.7 billion—as well as its high import tariffs. More from Sourcing Journal Tariffs Hurt Footwear, Apparel Growth, Says Moody's Trump Administration's DOJ Primed to Tackle Tariff Evasion With New Unit UPS China-to-US Shipments Decline More than Expected in Q2 'Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country,' the president Truthed Wednesday morning. 'Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia's largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE,' he added. Trump did not provide details about the penalty India will face for procuring goods from Russia. India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry responded swiftly to the announcement, saying, 'The Government has taken note of a statement by the U.S. President on bilateral trade. The Government is studying its implications.' 'India and the U.S. have been engaged in negotiations on concluding a fair, balanced and mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement over the last few months. We remain committed to that objective,' the statement read. 'The government attaches the utmost importance to protecting and promoting the welfare of our farmers, entrepreneurs, and MSMEs,' or micro, small and medium enterprises. The ministry said it's prepared to take all necessary steps to protect India's national interests, as it has with other trade agreements, including a recent pact with the United Kingdom. Before Trump's morning Truth, India was among the largest U.S. trade partners angling for a trade deal with the U.S. ahead of the Aug. 1 tariff-pause expiration. And in another all-caps missive, the president intimated that others hoping for more time to hash out agreements with the U.S. shouldn't hold their breath. The administration has said it continues to send letters to countries across the globe this week informing them of new tariff rates, and some may see a reversion back to the rates announced on April 2. 'THE AUGUST FIRST DEADLINE IS THE AUGUST FIRST DEADLINE—IT STANDS STRONG, AND WILL NOT BE EXTENDED. A BIG DAY FOR AMERICA!!!,' the president wrote. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Administration's DOJ Primed to Tackle Tariff Evasion With New Unit
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is upping its efforts to promote robust trade enforcement as it anticipates an escalation of issues like duty evasion in the wake of the Trump administration's expanding tariff regime. And it's issuing a warning to American companies: don't try to skirt the forthcoming duties. More from Sourcing Journal UPS China-to-US Shipments Decline More than Expected in Q2 Tariff Ticker: Trump Scores Victory in De Minimis Challenge, But No Deal With China Yet Cambodia Is a Growing Footwear Production Hub-a Trade Deal Could Be on the Way Earlier this month, the DOJ announced that it will combine civil and criminal resources within its fraud department to form the Market, Government, and Consumer Fraud Unit (MGCF). Its goal in bringing together these enforcement bodies is to hone their resources to focus on the investigation and prosecution of Customs fraud, among other issues. The move comes as the government prepares to implement sweeping tariffs on imports from countries across the globe beginning on Friday. In recent days, a handful of nations—and trade blocs—have negotiated trade agreements with U.S. officials, including directly with President Donald Trump. But most, if not all, prominent trading partners will still face double-digit duties on a significant volume and range of products. As the government gears up to collect those new duties, the DOJ's response belies an expectation that efforts and schemes designed to evade the tariffs could escalate. Recently, the department also announced that it plans to prioritize tariff enforcement under the False Claims Act (FCA). These changes will also usher in a shift in the way U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) handles customs and tariff enforcement, with both the DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) laser focused on duty dodgers. They will be looking to target companies and individuals taking part in illicit activities like misclassifying or undervaluing imports, misrepresenting country of origin, and transshipping. Misrepresentation of country of origin could manifest in activities like falsifying Customs entry documents and invoices, or replacing product labels. This often takes place during transshipment, an illegal practice wherein goods from one country that faces high tariffs or trade barriers (like China) are rerouted through another to avoid tariffs. Meanwhile, misclassification involves the deliberate and incorrect categorization of goods under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS), presumably with the goal of obtaining a lower duty classification. Bad actors have also engaged in undervaluation schemes, in which they falsify invoices and underreport the true value of the goods they're importing in order to avoid paying duties. On July 10, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Matthew Galeotti announced that the new unit, MGCF, will be dedicating 'significant personnel' to trade violations and white-collar crimes. Companies could now face serious penalties, with charges including tariff avoidance that earn violators up to 20 years in prison. While there will be hurdles to achieving effective enforcement, especially when it comes to penalizing foreign entities, the unit is already actively targeting American firms using the False Claims Act. The DOJ filed a FCA Complaint against a South Carolina home furnishing company called Global Office Furniture on July 15, alleging that the firm skirted at least $2 million in duties on imports and engaged in a so-called 'double-invoicing scheme.' The company allegedly submitted false invoices to CBP while creating separate invoices that reflected the accurate price of the goods, which were used to collect payment from the end purchasers. Global Office Furniture's bogus invoices were used to calculate lower—and incorrect—duty rates. A former office manager filed a whistleblower complaint in 2020, though the U.S. District Attorney's Office for the District filed its FCA complaint after the Trump administration's announcement this month. According to New York-based law firm Sullivan and Cromwell, 'This FCA complaint against [Global Office Furniture] signals the Trump administration's focus on the FCA as a civil enforcement tool.' In a memo released this week, the firm said the complaint also 'confirms that the Trump administration's focus on tariff and trade issues is reflected in DOJ enforcement priorities, at both the civil and criminal levels.' Meanwhile, just last week, a FCA complaint from the DOJ forced New Hampshire-based Global Plastics LLC and New York-based Marco Polo International LLC—both subsidiaries of MGI International LLC—to pay out $6.8 million. According to the DOJ, both companies knowingly failed to cough up Customs duties on plastic resin products imported from China. Last year, MGI disclosed to CBP and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Hampshire that in 2019, the subsidiary companies began obfuscating the country of origin, along with the value, of the goods they were bringing in and as a result, failed to pay the proper duties on those imports. According to the DOJ memo, MGI's timely action to rectify its wrongdoing played into the relative leniency of the penalty. The company made a relatively swift and voluntary self-disclosure of its violations, performed an internal investigation, conducted an analysis of potential damages, and took 'remedial actions,' like disciplining personnel and tightening compliance procedures. Upon news of the settlement, Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the DOJ's Civil Division underscored that while the department will actively pursue companies and individuals that try to gain unfair trade advantages, 'they can mitigate the consequences by making timely self-disclosures, cooperating with investigations, and taking appropriate remedial measures.' 'This resolution demonstrates that when companies self-disclose misconduct, cooperate fully with the government's investigation, and take meaningful corrective action, they can receive credit for those admissions,' Acting U.S. Attorney Jay McCormack for the District of New Hampshire echoed. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tariff Ticker: Trump Scores Victory in De Minimis Challenge, But No Deal With China Yet
The U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) has declined for now to block President Donald Trump's executive orders ending the de minimis trade exception for shipments valued at $800 or less—a victory for the administration amid a number of challenges to its authority on issues of trade. On Monday, a panel of three judges handed a tentative victory to the president in a case brought by Michigan-based Detroit Axle, a supplier of car parts like brake rotors and wheel bearings. In its complaint, the company challenged the legality of Trump's decision to end the longstanding trade provision, which has allowed it to import small shipments of goods from China that it said are essential to its business. As a result of Trump's trade actions, the company announced last week that it would close one of its regional warehouses, imperiling the jobs of 102 employees. More from Sourcing Journal Trump Administration's DOJ Primed to Tackle Tariff Evasion With New Unit UPS China-to-US Shipments Decline More than Expected in Q2 China Inks $65.5M in Textile Projects for Egypt's SCZone Detroit Axle sought, and was denied, a motion for a preliminary injunction against the kibosh on de minimis. The judges ruled that the scope of the lawsuit is already being addressed in another lawsuit challenging Trump's 'reciprocal' tariffs. 'We will not grant redundant, contingent relief through a preliminary injunction here,' the decision read. In the other case, which was brought by a number of U.S. businesses in May, the CIT ruled against the president's imposition of duties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), saying that he'd overstepped his authority in leveraging the little-known trade law to justify sweeping tariffs on trade partners. Shortly after the decision, however, the administration requested a stay of the injunction with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) and was granted a temporary stay. As a result, the IEEPA tariffs are able to move forward while the legal proceedings play out. The appeals court is slated to hear oral arguments on the case Thursday morning, one day before the pause on worldwide duties expires. With that deadline looming, the administration has been firing off letters to foreign trade partners and expediting handshake deals with a number of ASEAN nations, along with Japan. Most recently, the president touted a deal with the European Union, announced Sunday from Scotland with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, wherein the 27-member trade bloc will pay 15-percent duties on about 70 percent of the volume of goods imported into the U.S. market. Far from satisfied, many European leaders had hoped for a lower rate, and now shippers are pushing for details that remain scant. Meanwhile, cabinet members including U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Jamieson Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Chinese trade officials in Stockholm this week, concluding negotiations Tuesday without formalizing a path forward for the trade relationship after weekend speculation that a deal could be forthcoming. China and the U.S. in May agreed to a bilateral pause on retaliatory tariffs that would last for 90 days, with an end date of Aug. 12. While there was no formal agreement to extend the pause and continue talks, Bessent attempted to quell anxieties that the truce was disintegrating. 'Just to tamp down that rhetoric, the meetings were very productive,' Bessent said, according to CNN. 'We just haven't been given that signoff,' he added, referring to approval from Trump. Greer also said a 'potential pause' was on the table, should the Commander in Chief approve it. Trump himself added Tuesday that he felt the meetings had been positive, and said he aims to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping before the end of 2025. The president didn't espouse such a rosy outlook with regard to one of the country's other biggest trading partners, however. Despite a close relationship with India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, Trump said Tuesday that he plans to slap the country with 25-percent tariffs on Friday should Washington and New Delhi fail to reach a consensus. On 'Liberation Day' in April, Trump threatened India with 26-percent duties. He didn't offer an explanation for the adjustment, but has repeatedly called the dealmaking process 'tough' due to India's high import duties and a growing trade imbalance with the U.S. Greer said in an interview on CNBC Monday that brokering a deal with India will take more time. 'They have expressed strong interest in opening portions of their market, we of course are willing to continue talking to them,' the USTR ambassador said. 'But I think we need some more negotiations on that with our Indian friends to see how ambitious they want to be.' Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
