Ocean Rates See Uptick Amid Tariff Turmoil

Ocean container rates from Asia to North America saw a slight uptick recently as the Trump administration’s tariff-driven trade strategy roils global markets, Freightos reported Wednesday.  Rates from Asia to the U.S. West Coast were up 10% week over week to $2,465 per forty-foot equivalent unit, per an April 16 market update.  Rates to the East Coast went up 3% to $3,647 per FEU.

As shippers navigate trade uncertainty, a pullback in China-to-U.S. volumes, paired with an increase in demand from other Asia trade lanes, may reflect “diverging rates on the port-pair level,” according to Freightos. U.S. shippers have been frontloading goods since November to get ahead of tariffs. The administration’s plans to roll out country-specific reciprocal tariffs April 9 prompted another rush to move cargo before the new duties went into effect.

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