Lowering the sail

Tariffs appear to take their toll on trade flows from Asia to the US. Container and dry cargo ships are transporting about 15% to 20% less cargo from large Asian trading partners including China, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan and Japan to the US. It must be noted that this data is volatile with short periods of large increases and decreases, but the trends over the past few months is down. Higher tariffs have probably dampened demand for Asian goods, forcing supply chains to adjust and shipping volumes to shrink. This underscores how protectionist policies ripple through global logistics, potentially squeezing profit margins and reshaping trade routes.

Source: Bloomberg, August 2025.